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JEAN K. BAIRD 




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HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 





The talk was not tiresome to hester now. Her eyes were 

GLOWING. — Pa^ire 13 . 



THE HESTER BOOKS 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


BY 

JEAN K. ^AIKD 

Author of ** The Coming of Hester ** 
and ♦* Hester’s Counterpart” 


ILLUSTRATED BT ELIZABETH WITHINQTON 



BOSTON 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. 



Published, August, 1912 



Copyright, 1912, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co. 


All Rights Reserved 


Hester’s Wage-Earning 


Borwoob lpre60 

BERWICK & SMITH CO. 

NORWORD, MASS. 

U. S. A. 


^ 

^CI.A316422 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


The talk was not tiresome to Hester now. Her 
eyes were glowing. (Page 13) . . Frontispiece ^ 

FACING PAGE 

“I’ll remember you all when we get our royal- 
ties” 44 

“You can go no farther. I should not have per- 
mitted your going as far as this ” . . . 56 

“I wrote that account,” said Hester, advancing. 

“What is wrong with it. Dr. Bridgman?” . . 190 

Debby Alden was day-dreaming as she beat her 
eggs 310 1.^ 

“Did you ever see any daintier work?” . . 324 



HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 

CHAPTEE I 

H ESTEE’S first year at scliool had come to 
a close. She was eager to be home again, 
but not so much as was her foster-aunt, Debby 
Alden, who reviewed mentally, while she packed 
her wardrobe, all that had occurred during the 
sixteen years since Hester’s mother had been 
killed at the railroad-crossing before the old 
Alden place and Debby had taken the little 
child, who had been tossed unhurt from her 
mother’s arms. 

For almost sixteen years Hester had been 
with Debby Alden. She had been a comfort 
and inspiration. The foster-aunt reviewed all 
in her mind. She realized how she had devel- 
oped and broadened her own life through her 
efforts to rear and educate the motherless child. 
She was a finer, better woman because Hester 
1 


2 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


had been left to her. Life had received its in- 
spiration from the child. 

During the last year, she had lived in Lock- 
port that she might be near Hester, who was 
enrolled in school. June had brought with it 
floods, the like of which had never before been 
known in the country. The school and city had 
been flooded. Now the river and creek had 
gone hack to their original beds. School 
had been closed. Dehhy was eager to return 
to her home. 

The low-grade roadbed from Lockport home 
had been washed away. Traffic had been re- 
sumed, hut the trains dragged their way slowly, 
while for miles the road was virtually being 
rebuilt, the length of a rail at a time. The 
Bald Eagle railroad which tunneled through the 
mountains into the broader valleys to the west 
had been high and dry above the flood mark. 
Dehhy could go home by this route. It meant, 
however, traveling over two sides of a triangle 
to reach Eeno, while the river road was the 
third side. 

“It means four hours more to travel and a 
change of cars at Tyrone,” Dehhy explained 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


3 


to Hester, “but it’s safe. We are in no need 
to burry. We go borne by tbe Bald Eagle Val- 
ley.” 

Hester offered no objections. This way was 
new to ber. Sbe enjoyed any new experi- 
ence. 

At eight o’clock Thursday morning, Debby 
and Hester entered tbe station at Castanea. 
Miss Eicbards was not returning with them. 
Sbe bad gone north to visit friends as soon 
as the roads were open to travel. 

Debby was anxious to see ber old home. 
Never bad sbe been away so long from it be- 
fore. Almost ten months bad passed since 
sbe and Hester bad locked tbe front door, 
banded tbe key to Kate Bowerman and walked 
away with many a backward glance at tbe 
closed blLuds and general air of being left un- 
tenanted. 

Sam Logan bad promised to plant ber gar- 
den for ber. Sam kept bis promises after a 
fashion; but be believed to-morrow was quite 
as good as to-day in working value. Debby 
knew that Sam would be faithful after bis 
fashion and put in tbe garden when be got 


4 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENINa 


around to it, whicli would be two weeks later 
than Debby herself would have bad it. 

She was not a little concerned about this. 
By this time there should be plenty of smaller 
garden truck and the peas should be almost 
ready to shell. 

Her mind was so taken up with these matters 
that she paid no attention to the other passen- 
gers. Hester bad tried to keep up a conver- 
sation, but, becoming discouraged by her 
aunt’s absent-minded replies, gave up the at- 
tempt and began to study the people about her. 
There was nothing unusual in their looks or 
attire. She would not have turned for a sec- 
ond look. 

Debby and Hester were seated near the mid- 
dle of the car. After studying the passengers 
before her, Hester turned her head sidewise 
and glanced down the aisle. 

“A most remarkable likeness,” were the 
words which fell upon her ear and which were 
evidently not intended for her hearing. “I 
noticed it at once, but I was only able to get 
a side view. But with the full face view, the 
resemblance is startling.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


5 


Hester sat very still. These fancied resem- 
blances to some one of whom she knew not, 
gave her a sense of uneasiness. She had the 
feeling of one who stood alone on a mountain 
peak knowing that an uncertain step might 
fling her headlong. 

Hester sat very still and listened. Her ears 
were keen for such matters. Her Aunt 
Debby, absorbed in dreams of green peas and 
fresh corn, had not heard the words. 

“Did you know Eoset” Another voice 
asked the question. The first replied, “None 
knew her better. A dear little woman. She 
was only twenty when she and Phil were mar- 
ried. A good old-fashioned love affair.” 

“How long afterward did this — this — ^what 
would you call it? — calamity happen?” 

“I do not remember. Something like two 
years, I think. The little girl was almost a 
year old. I — ” 

Hester moved uneasily. Then as though 
acting without volition, she turned and looked 
directly into the faces of the speakers. 

Both were men near middle age. One was 
tall, spare of limb and sharp-featured. His 


6 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


thin lips met in a narrow cruel line. His eyes 
were gray, cold, steely, penetrating. He was 
well dressed in a gray business suit. He 
looked like a professional man or a prosperous 
merchant. His companion was a fat pudgy 
creature, with double chin and mild eyes. He 
was untidy in his appearance and looked par- 
ticularly bad in comparison with the scrupu- 
lously tidy gentleman at his side. 

Hester looked directly into their faces. 
They met her glance, then turned aside and 
lowered their voices as though afraid that she 
might hear. There was nothing offensive in 
their bearing. They were courteous enough 
not to show that they had observed the sur- 
prise and fear in the eyes of the young girl as 
she turned to look at them. 

Hester turned her face to the window. It 
was an hour yet before they would reach the 
junction. During that time the girl’s eyes 
were fixed upon the whirling landscape, while 
her lips kept repeating, “Who is it I look like? 
I wonder if Aunt Dehhy knows. She knows 
more than she will tell me.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


7 


She had not lived with Annt Debby Alden 
sixteen years without realizing that if Debby 
kept back any information it was for Hester’s 
happiness. The knowledge, then, would cause 
unhappiness, Hester reasoned. So her mind 
moved on and on in a circle, going over the 
same ground again and again and never reach- 
ing a conclusion. 

There was a wait of several hours at the 
junction. Hester knew nothing of the town. 
It was not large, but gained its importance 
from being at the junction of several main 
lines and branches. 

After a dinner at the hotel, Debby and Hes- 
ter walked about town. Even this did not dis- 
pose of all the time and they returned to the 
station to wait until train time. There was 
but one general waiting-room and ticket ofl&ce. 
A small alcove with open windows was used as 
a newspaper stand. 

As Debby and Hester came opposite the en- 
trance, the latter noticed one of the men she 
had seen in the train. It was the short fat 
little fellow with untidy clothes. His com- 


8 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


panion in the train was no longer with him. 
He was talking now to a little wiry fellow, all 
skin and bones and sharp eyes. 

Hester did not look in their direction as she 
passed close to them, but she felt that the eyes 
of the one man were following her closely. 
There was really nothing in that to cause sur- 
prise. She and Aunt Debby were different 
in looks and yet both unusually attractive. It 
was little wonder that a stranger’s eyes would 
turn for a second glance toward them. 

“Let us sit here, Hester,” said Debby as 
they entered the station. “One can get a 
breath of fresh air here.” She indicated a 
place by the open window which looked out on 
the paved terrace which separated the building 
from the street. Without were a number of 
benches. Here the greater number of men 
were gathered. 

“I am tired. We walked farther than I 
thought,” said Hester. She sat down where 
Debby had indicated. There were people com- 
ing and going. Several long trains on the 
main line came in and out. There were all 
types of humanity, and Hester and Debby 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


9 


watched them. Suddenly in the moving mass, 
Debby Alden recognized an acquaintance and 
hurried away to speak to her, bidding Hester 
to remain where she was, so that she might be 
readily found on Debby ’s return. 

Barely had Hester been left alone when her 
ear again caught the tones which had attracted 
her attention in the car. The little fat man 
was sitting just outside the window. 

“I came up with Jim Bates this morning,” 
he was saying. “I don’t know how we got 
on an accommodation, but we did. Slow as 
molasses in January. Train stops every three 
minutes to shoo some one’s chickens o££ the 
track.” 

His companion laughed and the speaker 
chuckled under his breath as though his little 
pleasantry were something quite new and 
original. 

“Jim’s getting along fine; been coming right 
up for years. He’s got a good head on him 
and knows what’s what. I hain’t seen him for 
years imtil to-day. I declare, I wouldn’t have 
known him from Adam, but he ‘knowed’ me the 
minute his eyes lit on me. ‘Cranson, you old 


10 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


critter,’ he says, grabbing my band, ‘ where ’d 
yon bail from?’ ” 

“Where does be live now?’' asked bis com- 
panion. 

“Doing business down the road,” was the 
reply, given in such a way that one might be- 
lieve that for some reason Jim Bates did not 
wish to keep bis permanent address before the 
public. 

“Jim’s kept track of most of the old boys 
— ^young sprouts that used to go to school at 
Bogg’s Eun. He told me about them all — 
some’s pushing up and some down. I tell you 
it’s mighty strange bow things turn out in 
folks’ lives. There’s more strange things 
than was ever put down in story books.” He 
paused an instant and then added, “The 
workings of Providence are darned strange.” 

The voice as well as the words and sentiment 
were strangely incongruous. Hester smiled 
involuntarily. 

“He was telling me about Phil Williams. 
You remember Phil — Stalky Williams, we used 
to call him ’cause he was so fat. Well, Phil 
got married to Eose Walton. You didn’t know 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


11 


Eosie. The Waltons moved in after your 
folks went west. Nice girl, and about as pretty 
as you’d see in a day’s travel. Dark wavy 
hair, pink cheeks, eyes big and bright. Nice 
girl. 

“Phil married her. They kept house up in 
Olympia. They had a little girl. I never saw 
the child. Indeed, I never saw either Eosie 
or Phil after they moved up to Olympia. Phil 
was working for the lumber company and 
worked his way right up. He got into a deal 
himself and went down south to look after it.” 

This was not at all interesting to Hester. 
She sighed with weariness and would have 
turned away had not the next words given her 
a start. 

The man had made an impressive pause. 
Then raising his fat, chubby, dirty finger, he 
pointed it at his companion and said, “Now, 
here’s what I mean by saying that the workings 
of Providence are ‘darned’ mysterious. Phil, 
he goes south, leaving a wife and little girl a 
year old. Phil, he falls sick down there and 
they send for Eose to come down. 

“Eose starts as quick as she can get ready. 


12 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 

Slie always thouglit a heap of Phil, She starts 
one morning, taking the baby with her. Now, 
there were several ways she could reach Phil 
after she left Olympia and went to the city. 
She could have come right through this sec- 
tion and she might have taken the eastern 
road. She didn’t tell any one at Olympia 
which road she took. Mebbe she didn’t know 
about there being several ways she might go, 
for she was one of those home-bodies not much 
given to traipsin’ over the country. Well, all 
that folks know was that she started with her 
baby to find Phil. He lay down there sick, not 
getting much care, for he had only nigger 
nurses, and wondering all the while why Eose 
didn’t come or didn’t write. It wasn’t until 
he was able to go home that he understood. 
When he got to Olympia there was his house 
all closed up and the key handed to a neighbor. 
It had been that way for something like a 
month. No wife and no little girl anywhere.” 

“What had become of them? Didn’t they 
ever show up?” 

“No. Phil spent a lot of money looking for 
them. Of course he knew something had hap- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


13 


pened. He put notices in all the papers ask- 
ing for information, but he never got so much 
as a word. The hard part was not knowing 
just which road she took. He couldn’t trace 
her so easily; for as I said before, she might 
have gone three or four different routes.” 

“Nothing ever heard of them since. It is 
surely strange. I cannot understand how a 
woman and child could disappear in the midst 
of a civilized set of people and no trace of them 
ever be found.” 

The talk now was not tiresome to Hester. 
Her eyes were glowing and that strange dread 
which had seized her when Abner Stout had 
spoken to her in the store was upon her again. 
It was strange how mothers and children were 
disappearing. She leaned forward, wholly un- 
conscious of the people about her. Somehow 
she felt that this story of Eose and her lit- 
tle daughter was meant for herself and that 
unknown and unremembered mother who lay 
up in the Alden lot in the old burial ground at 
home. Even though the fear and dread were 
strong upon her, a feeling of relief mingled with 
them. She did not belong to Aunt Debby by 


14 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


“blood ties” but sbe did by those of law. Sbe 
was “legally” Debby Alden’s little girl, and 
nothing could change that. Whoever her own 
people were, or whenever they might come 
for her, they could not take her from her Aunt 
Debby nor change the name she had learned to 
love and respect. She was an Alden and she 
was proud of it. 

Although it hurt her to hear the subject dis- 
cussed, yet she leaned forward and drank in 
every word of the conversation. The men by 
a mere turn of the head in her direction could 
have looked her full in the face. They seemed 
indifferent not only to her presence but to the 
passing throng. Of the hundreds who came 
and lingered for a short time and went their 
way, Hester alone was interested and heard 
what was said. 

“Strange,” repeated the man slowly. “I 
wouldn’t have believed such a thing as that 
could happen. How long ago did you say that 
this happened?” 

“Jim didn’t say exactly. He just sort of 
generalized. But I know when they moved to 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 15 


Olympia, the little girl was a year old. If 
I calculated right, it would be about seventeen 
years ago. I’m not good on dates. It may be 
only sixteen. I’d have to reckon back to be 
exact; but as I say, calculating roughly, it’s 
just about seventeen years ago.” 

There was a pause. The speaker sighed and 
adjusted himself more comfortably on the 
bench. “Strange how things do come about. 
It was kind of funny how Jim Bates came to 
tell me all Phil’s troubles. I hain’t thought 
of Phil and Eose for years, though we used 
to be as thick as pie when we went to the 
Bogg’s Eun School. I used to see Eose fre- 
quent enough before she was married. She 
was twenty or thereabouts. Well, this morn- 
ing I was sitting talking to Jim when a woman 
and girl ups and comes into the train. Now 
I wasn’t thinking no more of Eose Williams 
than you’d be, and neither was Jim. We were 
talking business. But when that girl walked 
down the aisle I just naturally exclaimed, 
‘Eose Walton,’ and didn’t Jim Bates do the 
same trick at the same time. That girl was 


16 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


just identical with Eose Walton when Eose 
was a young girl — the time when we had seen 
her last.’’ 

“That does seem strange. I’ve known re- 
semblances to he startling and yet there was 
no relationship whatever. Nature sometimes 
has a little trick of doing just such things. It 
may be, though, if families were traced hack 
far enough, we’d find that a far-removed com- 
mon ancestor had reasserted himself after 
many generations. I’ve known the thing to 
happen in my own family.” Here the bundle 
of hones and skin and sharp keen eyes began 
a long dissertation on some of the peculiar re- 
semblances existing among his own people. 
His companion, however, had no desire to 
listen to a long harangue. For some reason, he 
wished to talk on this one subject. He inter- 
rupted the man’s talk with, “That all may be, 
but this wasn’t any resemblance of one feature 
or one trick of moving or talking. It was a 
counterpart in every way. If I hadn’t knowed 
that eighteen years had passed since I’d talked 
with Eose Walton, I’d gone right up to that 
girl there and then and spoke to her and called 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


17 


her Eose Walton. That resemblance wasn’t 
no mere chance. Yon know yonrself that Jim 
Bates hain’t no man’s fool. He was all 
worked up over it. He didn’t know whether 
he’d write to Phil and tell him about it or 
whether he’d better keep his mouth shut.” 

“What good would come of Phil’s knowing 
of this resemblance? It would only excite him 
unnecessarily.” 

“It kind of come to me that mebbe she might 
be the little girl. Strange things — ” 

“You’re talking nonsense. Let the matter 
rest. By this time Phil has laid their disap- 
pearance apart in his life as one of the things 
beyond comprehension and of which he dare 
not permit himself to think. Why trouble him 
at all?” 

“He hain’t laid it aside. It was only a few 
weeks ago that he got some kind of a clue. 
Jim didn’t say when or where he got it. It 
seems that he heard of a woman up here some 
place being killed by a train. The woman was 
carrying a child. It was saved, however, and 
some one took it and took care of it. If I 
remember rightly, it happened somewhere 


18 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


right in this vicinity. I don’t know that Phil 
knows the names, but he’s working along that 
line. ’ ’ 

“He’d better let the matter rest after so long 
a time. It will only spoil his life. He should 
put it aside and think as little of it as he can.” 

“That hain’t Phil’s way. Eemember it was 
his little girl. That’s what’s in his mind all 
the time. Think how you’d feel yourself if 
you was in his place.” He sighed and shook 
his head. ' “She’ll be a lucky girl to have such 
a father. There’ll be nothing that he won’t 
get for her — bangles and baubles and motor 
cars and everything that she’ll want. All she 
needs to do will be to say the word.” 

Debby Alden, who had been standing with her 
friend at the end of the waiting-room, engaged 
in conversation, bade her friend good-by and 
moved across the room to Hester. The girl 
saw her coming and moved away from the 
window that her aunt might not hear the con- 
versation from without. 

The little fat man who had been doing the 
greater part of the talkmg saw her move. 
Quickly turning his head, he looked through the 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


19 


window. Hester had moved away almost out 
of sight and out of hearing. The man had 
seemingly been unconscious of the girl’s 
presence, yet when he knew that she was not 
within hearing, he began another subject of 
conversation, and forgot about Phil and Eose. 

It may have been chance that he did so. It 
may have been that he knew the girl was hear- 
ing every word he said and had talked for her 
benefit. What the cause or his motive was, 
was not easily defined. The man was a 
stranger in that locality. 

Hester, being of a guileless nature, thought 
only that it had chanced so. There could be 
no reason for a strange man’s putting himself 
to trouble to annoy her with the story. 

The gong for the incoming train sounded. 

“Come, Hessie, that is our train. I’m very 
glad. I did not realize how fine it is to be 
home.” She gathered together a few. stray 
packages. 

“Neither did I, Aunt Debby. School was 
lovely, but home is — ” She could find no word 
adequate to express herself. She continued: 
“It’s a good thing to go away. Don’t you 


20 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


think so? We appreciate that dear old place 
more than ever when we have been away from 
it for months.” 

Her eyes and face were alight. The con- 
versation she had overheard had passed from 
her mind. She was overcome with a desire 
to he back home. She said no more on the 
subject of their home-coming. Like Debby, her 
deepest feelings rarely spent themselves in 
words. 

A crowd was before them making their way 
into the train. Hester caught a glimpse of the 
little fat man who had done so much talking. 
He was pushing his way through the crowd, 
trying to get aboard before all the seats were 
taken. His coat pockets were bulging with 
newspapers as though he had hastily thrust 
them there when he had heard the train 
whistle. 

Hester’s eyes followed him as she and her 
Aunt Debby stood in the outer edge of the 
crowd. At last she lost sight of him. At that 
instant he had gotten into the midst of the 
passengers who were comiag from the train. 
He was jostled about. The papers fell from 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


21 


his pockets. Then the crowd lessened and he 
was able to make his way into the coach. 

Hester and Miss Debby moved forward. 
As they waited to be helped aboard, Hester 
noticed, the paper lying at her feet; she gave 
it a hurried glance — ^no more. It was yellow 
with age. She pushed it aside with her foot. 
Had she looked closer, she might have learned 
much that concerned herself and her friends. 
The paper was one which had dropped from 
the pocket of the man, Cranson. It was just a 
year younger than Hester. An advertisement 
in headlines offered a large reward for a 
woman named Rosa Williams who had dis- 
appeared with a little child. 

The paper was yellow, stained, and old. 
Hester pushed it aside with her foot and en- 
tered the car. 


CHAPTER II 


T here was so much to be done within the 
house and in the garden that Hester had 
no time to think of the conversation she had 
overheard. Sam Logan had done his best with 
the garden. There was plenty of what he called 
“small garden truck,” and the prospects were 
good for beans, peas, corn and potatoes. The 
arrangement was not as methodical as it would 
have been had Debby herself been at home. 
She had always made use of a system of ar- 
rangement which made the general effect of 
the garden very pleasing. She had the eye of 
the landscape gardener. She liked the big 
bushy things to be placed at the back of the 
garden where they served as a background. 
Sam, however, had a bed of onions and then 
peas, followed by early cabbage. 

Several years before, such a condition of 
atfairs would have been a sore trial to Debby 
Alden. For an instant she gave herself up to 
22 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 23 


such, feelings. Then she smiled, “It’s really 
of no importance after all. The peas will grow 
there as well as close to the fence — perhaps 
better. It doesn’t look so well, but in three 
months it will all be gone. The arrangement 
is really of no vital importance and I’ll not 
concern myself about it.” Then she turned to 
Sam Logan who had been showing her about. 
“Things are farther advanced than I ex- 
pected to find them. You must have planted 
early.” 

Sam nodded knowingly. He was an excel- 
lent gardener, an excellent Jack-of-all-trades, 
but he was dilatory. His rule appeared to be, 
“never do to-day what you can put off until 
to-morrow. ’ ’ 

“I planted as early as I dared — I didn’t 
want to risk any freezing. I reckon you’re 
surprised to know that your garden and mine 
were the first hereabouts.” 

“I certainly am surprised,” she said. “You 
have been generally a little late with yours, 
Sam.” 

“Well, it was my own and I calculated I had 
a right to put it in when I would. I reckon as 


24 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


it was no one’s affairs but mine.” He paused 
and stood with Ms bands in bis bip pockets, 
wMle Ms eyes rested thoughtfully upon the 
early cabbage. He was evidently touched 
about sometbmg. Debby knew the peculiar 
traits of the man and waited ia silence for him 
to fimsb bis complaint. “That Mrs. Kate 
Bowerman began twittering early the first of 
the year about putting in your garden. Meet 
her when I would, she would say, ‘Remember, 
Sam, the Aldens always have green peas before 
July. If I was you, I’d not wait until the last 
of June to bunt up the seed.’ That’s the way 
she was always twittiug me. I thought I’d let 
her see for once that I knew as much about 
farmiug as any Bowerman.” He paused, Ms 
eyes yet on the heads of cabbage wMch were 
fully developed. Then he looked up at Debby 
Alden. “ Hadn’t seen the Bowerman garden 
yet, have you. Miss Alden?” 

“No, I have not. I came home but yester- 
day, as you know, Sam, and I’ve had little time 
to go anywhere. I presume it is fine.” 

“Fine!” There was a world of contempt in 
Ms voice. “Just go and look at their cabbage. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


25 


It will do you good, but take your specs along. 
You’ll need them to see anything that’s there, 
I can tell you.” 

Debby laughed. Sam had evidently received 
his share of satisfaction in having Miss 
Debby’s garden far in advance of her neighbor. 
It was the first time the man had shown any 
signs of ambition in any of its phases. 

“Kate’s sarcasm has done a good turn this 
time,” said Debby to herself. 

Debby felt somewhat ashamed of the inside 
of the house. She had left everything in order 
when she had gone away in the fall. Now, 
there was dust everywhere. Spiders had fes- 
tooned the windows with their webs and the 
dust and rain had marked the windows. 
Debby could not wholly put aside the tradi- 
tions of her inheritance and training. She had 
been reared with the idea that certain months 
are propitious for certain kinds of housework 
and that to make a general mix-up of time and 
work was little less than criminal. Cleaning 
windows and hanging curtains in July was not 
according to the regular order, but it was there 
to be done, and Debby and Hester arose early 


26 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENINa 


and worked late to put tlie house into its ac- 
customed order. 

The old-fashioned bric-a-brac and ornaments 
which had decorated the mantel and walls of 
the living-room had been taken down and 
packed away when Debby had gone away the 
fall before. When the house had been thor- 
oughly swept, aired, and dusted, Debby re- 
quested Hester to bring out these articles from 
the closet and put them to rights. 

Hester had all the instincts of a home-maker. 
She enjoyed arranging a room and trying to 
get the best effect from the different articles 
of furniture. She accepted her aunt’s sugges- 
tion and began at once while Aunt Debby pre- 
pared dinner. In the closet there was a small 
pasteboard box tied up securely with a bit of 
twine. Hester opened this. There was a 
motley array of trifles, of no value whatever, 
to Hester’s mind. Among them were some 
old-fashioned photographs. Hester seized 
upon them eagerly. She had learned a trick 
of arranging photographs while at school. 
Almost every sitting-room had had shelves and 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 27 


walls filled with photographs. Hester worked 
slowly; first arranging, stepping back to see the 
general effect, and then changing it all. 

At last she was satisfied. Aldens of all ages 
appeared on the broad low mantelpiece. Hes- 
ter was surveying it with an air of pride when 
Debby came in to call her to dinner. 

“Dear me, Hester, what are you up to now?” 
she asked. There was a touch of amusement 
in her voice. Whatever Hester did or might 
do was pleasing in the elder woman’s eyes. 

“Doesn’t it look pretty. Aunt Debby? I 
found them all in a box, away back in the 
closet. Some of them must have been taken 
a long time ago, if one can judge from the 
dress. Look at this woman with curls over her 
shoulders and hoop-skirts. Who was she, 
Aunt Debby?” . 

“That’s old Aimt Peggy Eamage. She was 
Grandmother Alden’s sister. I remember her 
well. She’s been dead for years.” 

“And this one, Aunt Debby?” 

Debby told the name and to which branch of 
the family the original belonged. There was 


28 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


a long line of them and Hester would not let 
one go without hearing something of his his- 
tory. 

“We must have been a big family, Aunt 
Dehby. I wish we were a big family now, don’t 
you? Haven’t you any cousins or nieces any- 
where? Somehow it doesn’t seem just re- 
spectable to be by yourself and not have near 
relatives. We should have more of a family, 
Aunt Debby.” 

Debby smiled gently. She liked such senti- 
ment from Hester. To Debby ’s mind, there 
was something radically wrong with people 
without family connection. She had inherited 
a pride of family and birth. The Aldens kept 
trace of their blood out to the third and fourth 
branch. There was always a sense of duty 
and obligation to one another wherever there 
was a bit of Alden. Hester showed the same 
inherent qualities, and Debby Alden was proud 
of this. 

“There’s none of our direct family here, 
Hester,” she said. “I am the only one of my 
own family. My uncles and aunts with their 
children and grandchildren settled over in the 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 29 


other valley. My great-grandfather left there 
and bought this place.” 

“And he built this house,” cried Hester. 
“That was one hundred years ago. There 
was no railroad and the nails and glass were 
hauled by ox-teams; the shingles were hand- 
drawn. I remember it all.” 

She had never wearied when a little child 
of hearing Debby tell stories of the days of the 
earlier settlers which the narrator had had at 
first hand from her grandfather. 

Hester turned to the picture. Pushing one 
aside, she disclosed a picture of a young man 
with very pink cheeks and blue eyes, taken 
when photographers believed in adding a 
touch of nature. “Who’s this. Auntie?” 

Debby gave a sudden start. “That? 
That’s Jim Baker. He used to go to school 
down in the hollow. No, he isn’t any connec- 
tion.” 

Hester looked up into Debby Alden’s face. 
The girl was conscious of something not quite 
natural in the woman’s voice and manner. 
Miss Debby turned her head aside. “Come to 
dinner, Hessie. I’ve made a little turnover for 


30 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


you. You were always the greatest baby about 
turnovers and tarts. You always cared more 
for them than the finest pie I could bake.” 

“I do yet. I’ll never get over being a baby 
about turnovers, Aunt Debby.” Putting her 
arm about Debby ’s waist she went out to din- 
ner. Debby Alden bad grown more punctilious 
of late years in regard to conventions and 
customs. She and Hester observed all the 
niceties even when alone. There bad been a 
time when Debby Alden wore a kitchen apron 
to the dining-table. That day bad passed. 
She bad learned the great philosophy of pay- 
ing to one’s own presence the same respect that 
one would pay to the presence of an honored 
guest. 

“When the dinner work is finished, Aunt 
Debby, I think I shall walk over to see Jane 
and Orpha. I do not believe they know I am 
home, or else they would have come to see 
me.” 

“Do just as you wish,” said Debby. “Mary 
Bowerman knows that you are here. She saw 
us passing. It is strange that she has not 
slipped in for a few moments to see you.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 31 


“Oh, she’s different,” said Hester. She 
said no more. 

As though Hester’s thought bore with it con- 
juring power, Orpha, Jane, Ealph, and Mary 
appeared early in the afternoon. The day was 
extremely warm — too warm to sit indoors — 
and the old-fashioned Alden home had no cov- 
ered porches, only stoops upon which the mid- 
summer sun beat down without mercy. 

“Let us sit under the apple-tree,” said Hes- 
ter. “There’s one bench there now.” She 
began piling her arms with cushions. Ealph, 
laughing, relieved her. 

“But you can’t carry them all,” she cried. 

“Indeed, Ealphie can,” cried Jane. “He’s 
very strong. What does he think about a few 
cushions!” 

Ealph laughed at the sisterly pride and 
strode on out into the yard with the girls fol- 
lowing. The girls made themselves comforta- 
ble with the cushions. Ealph lay down on the 
grass, his elbows propped on the ground while 
his upturned palm supported his chin. 

“Tell us about school,” said Jane. “I’m 
just dying to hear about a girls’ school. I’ve 


32 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


kept Ealph busy since be came home telling me 
all the boys did.” 

“I haven’t told yon half,” said Ealph. “I 
don’t want to scare you to death.” 

“Do you like to hear them tell about it?” said 
Orpha. “Isn’t that funny?” 

Mary Bowerman said nothing. 

“Tell me first about high school,” said Hes- 
ter. “Were the examinations as hard as ever? 
Did Professor Sanderson act as disagreeably as 
ever?” 

“Wait a minute before you answer,” cried 
Ealph. He began to slap his pockets and dive 
into every corner of his coat. 

“Hornet?” asked Jane. 

“Bee?” cried Hester. 

“He acts more as though he had gone sud- 
denly crazy,” said Mary Bowerman. 

“It’s a letter,” said Ealph, bringing it forth. 

“I stopped for the mail and Mr. Fillman sug- 
gested that I bring this to Miss Debby, and I 
almost forgot it.” He was on his feet, in the 
house and back again almost in an instant. 
All the while Jane’s admiring eyes followed 
him. 


HESTER’S .WAGE-EARNING 


33 


“Now,” said Ralph, restiming his former 
position, “I’m ready for the confab. Woe is 
me when yon girls begin to talk. What evil 
fate induced me to come?” 

“Don’t look at me,” said Mary. “I’m no 
evil fate. I did not induce you to come. You 
came in spite of me.” She laughed saucily. 
In this mood she was really likable. She could 
be witty. She was bright beyond the average 
girl. As long as she refrained from sarcasm, 
she was a companion worth while. 

“You dragged me here,” said Ralph. “I 
didn’t want to come, but you girls made me.” 

“Isn’t that like all the excuses boys make?” 
asked Hester. “Do you remember in the 
grammar grade whenever Mr. Rank got after 
any of the boys they’d cry, ‘I didn’t want to 
but — some one — made me’?” 

The girls laughed and cried in chorus, “ ‘I 
didn’t intend to laugh out loud, but Lewis 
Jones, he made me.’ ” 

Then they laughed again. This had been 
one of the experiences in the grammar school 
four years before. Everything that happened 
was blamed on poor Lewis Jones. 


34 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


“You were asking about tbe examinations,” 
said Jane. “They were something awful. 
After we were given one in Cicero, I didn’t 
sleep for weeks thinking of it. It was worse 
than all the examinations of all the years before 
rolled into one. Orpha cried her eyes out over 
the geometry.” 

Ealph held up a warning finger. “Hyper- 
bole, Jane,” he said. Jane’s cheeks dimpled. 
Smiles bubbled over in lips and eyes. She, in 
turn, raised a finger at her brother and said 
soberly, “Fibs, Ealphie.” 

They laughed again. How very easy it was 
to laugh when they were all together again 
after being separated for ten months. Even 
Mary was so happy that she was humorous 
without being sharp. 

“It’s all the way you look at it,” she said. 
“In classical literature, any statement exag- 
gerated far beyond the truth is hyperbole; in 
ordinary life, it’s just a common fib.” 

They began again on school questions and 
for a half hour no other subject intruded itself. 
Ealph took little part in the talk except to 
throw in a teasing word now and then. While 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


35 


Hester was dilating verbally upon the horrors 
of the flood, Orpba’s slow but thorough look 
allowed no item of her friend’s appearance to 
escape notice. 

“You’ve changed the way you do your 
hair,” she interrupted. “Is that something 
new?” 

“That’s just what I was going to ask you,” 
said Jane. “How do the Seminary girls do 
their hair?” 

Ralph groaned. “I thought for once I was 
going to escape. I was thinking for the last 
five minutes that here at last was a set of girls 
who could talk without bringing in clothes or 
styles. But I see I am mistaken. Oh, that 
some way of escape were opened to me!” 

“Out there’s the road,” said Mary, nodding 
toward the gate. 

“It may stay there,” said Ralph, ignoring 
the suggestion in her words; “I’ve no inten- 
tion of bringing it in, even to please you girls. 
The proper place for a road, anyhow, is out- 
side.” 

“If you are so anxious to escape, you might 
take it,” retorted Mary. 


36 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


“I will not. It belongs to tbe State, Wliy 
should I take it? I’m no politician.” 

“Don’t pay any attention to Mm, Mary,” 
said Jane. “Ignoring him is tbe only way to 
manage Mm. When be gets these brilliant 
spells at home we just pretend that we don’t 
bear a word be says. He stops talking 
then.” 

‘ ‘ Ob, I do, my lady. I shall remember. 
Hereafter I shall continue to talk.” 

Tbe girls acted on Jane’s suggestion. They 
ignored tbe presence of tbe young man. They 
did not look in bis direction and paid no atten- 
tion to tbe bunches of clover wMcb came their 
way. 

“They wore their hair all sorts of ways,” 
began Hester. 

“ — cut bias with a chignon and a barrette,” 
said Ealpb. 

Hester continued, “Erma Thomas bad beau- 
tiful light hair — ” 

“Peroxide. Buy it at any drug store,” said 
Ealpb. 

“She always braided hers and then coiled it 
around her bead. It was fluffy in front and — ” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING- 37 


“And corrugated in tlie back, interspersed 
with small sausage links known as — ” 

He could not finish. Jane was upon him 
with a cushion in her hand. The other girls 
flew to her rescue. The cushion came down 
upon him with all the force that the girls could 
command. 

“Quarter — quarter,” he cried at last. 
When the enemy had withdrawn, he added, 
“Hereafter, the girls may wear their hair as 
they please. They’ll get no advice or sug- 
gestions from me. They’ll regret it.” He 
looked about in mock sadness. Then suddenly 
he stiffened up his shoulders and assumed an 
air of importance as he continued, “But, why 
should I complain? It is the way of the 
world. All great reformers have been treated 
as I have been — ^buffeted, pounded — ” 

“Even burned at the stake,” said Mary in 
stage whispers. “How would you like being 
burned at the stake?” 

“Eare,” said Ealph in sepulchral tone. 
Then they laughed again. Mary turned to 
J ane. ‘ ‘ Some day, Jane, I wish you would lock 
Ealphie up in the basement or attic, or chain 


38 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


him. I don’t care how yon do it, only so you 
can keep him there. Then come for me and 
we’ll get Hester to tell us about the styles of 
hairdressing.” 

“I’U do it,” said Jane. She turned to her 
brother with her rarest, sweetest smile, 
“Ralphie, dear, some day you remind me of 
it—” 

There was the whistle of an incoming train 
heard. “There,” exclaimed Mary, “it is five 
o’clock. We have spent the afternoon talking 
nonsense. It’s all Ralph’s fault. If he had 
not been here — ” She paused to look up at 
him. Her unfinished sentence suggested more 
than words would have done, the deep and im- 
portant subjects they would have discussed if 
they had not been kept from it by the presence 
of a boy. 

“We’d been discussing deep questions,” said 
Hester in mock seriousness. “We’d been 
airing our opinions on all the great problems 
of the day.” 

“By the shades of Plato, hear them talk,” 
exclaimed Ralph. “If I hadn’t been here you 
girls would have been discussing me and all 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


39 


the other boys in town. I know. Haven’t I 
a sister?” 

‘‘That’s what we meant,” said Mary in as- 
sumed meekness. “Are yon not one of the 
great problems of the day?” 

“You might as well give up, Ealph,” ex- 
claimed Hester. “Mary is on her high horse 
to-day and when she is so, no one can keep 
pace with her.” 

“I shall take my brother home where his 
worth is appreciated,” said Jane. “Come, 
Ealphie.” She held out her hand for Ealph to 
help her up. 

While all this banter had been going on, 
Orpha had sat quiet. She did not grasp the 
humor or the meaning. She took it for granted 
that it all must be very funny, for the girls had 
laughed. Therefore she also laughed. 

“It is late,” said Mary, arising. “The road 
looks hot and dusty. Let us go home through 
the woods and over the hill. We’ll be in the 
shade. It will take us very little longer.” 

“I’m willing,” said Jane. “Hester, come 
and walk with us to the top of the hill.” 

The way over the hill lay through the or- 


40 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


chard and across a little run where stepping- 
stones served as a bridge. Beyond lay a series 
of little clumps or hills as though there were 
pieces fallen from the great mountains which 
surrounded the valley. There was a growth of 
scrawny timber. The trees seemed old enough 
in years, but had never attained much height. 
There were several acres of such land. It be- 
longed to Debby Alden and marked the western 
boundary of her homestead. It was worthless 
for agricultural purposes. There was not 
enough timber to warrant a lumber job. It 
served as a wood place for Debby. Each fall 
and spring Sam Logan cut enough timber for 
her use and enough for himself to pay for the 
cutting he had done for Debby. That was all 
the timber-lot was worth, unless in the future 
the town should grow and the plot be laid out 
in town lots. Debby had once dreamed of dis- 
posing of it in this way, but the town had views 
of its own and stretched out in the other direc- 
tion. 

They came down through the orchard to the 
brook. Ealph helped them over, threatening 
to let them fall in. They shrieked in terror. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


41 


although the brook would not have come to the 
tops of the low shoes they were wearing, and 
they had hundreds of times jumped from stone 
to stone without assistance. 

When they reached the top of the hill by way 
of a narrow footpath, Mary, who was in ad- 
vance, stopped. “Look near the root of that 
tree,” she said, “some one has dug a great hole 
there. ’ ’ 

“WTiat is it?” the girls exclaimed. 

“It looks like a place for buried treasures,” 
said Mary. “It may be the end of the rainbow 
where the pots of gold lie buried.” She 
stepped aside. “You go and examine it, 
Ealph. I am not afraid, but if it’s a treasure, 
I want you to have the joy of finding it.” 

Ealph gave a glance at the excavation. 
“That’s nothing at all,” he said. “That is 
nothing worth while. Since I’ve come home, 
I’ve found them by the score.” He had 
pushed the bushes aside and was looking into 
a hole fully six feet deep. “They should be 
a little careful, though, and fill up after they 
have dug. Some one might easily fall in there 
and get hurt.” 


42 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


“Who are ‘they’ and what are they digging 
for?” asked Hester. “Eememher, I have 
been away from these ‘diggings’ for ten 
months. I have lost track of a great deal.” 

“Didn’t the girls write you any news?” 
asked Ealph. 

“Yes, hut it was all about the fashions and 
that important problem ‘young men.’ ” 

“I filled page after page about you, a sort 
of commentary on your comings and short- 
comings,” said Mary. “There was much of 
the latter.” 

“You had a good subject to work on,” 
laughed Ealph. Then he turned to Hester 
with an explanation. “Over on Bailey’s 
Eidge they have discovered a surface coal — 
that is, it lies only a short distance below the 
surface. It’s a cross between hard and soft 
coal. Since that, every one has become more 
or less excited. There were geologists and 
prospectors up here last spring. They went 
digging about everywhere, and had tons of 
earth to examine before they went home. I 
suppose they came up here to see about these 
hills. If they found coal in quantities it would 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


43 


make a great difference to many people.” 

“How?” asked Jane. 

“Give them more money than they could 
spend. There’s millions in royalties on 
coal.” 

Hester peered down the hole. “I’ll remem- 
ber you all when we get our royalties,” she 
said, “or if you do not want to wait, help your- 
self to coal.” 

“There’ll be no coal here,” said Ralph. “I 
looked at the soil on Bailey’s hill and it dif- 
fers wholly from this. Geology will show that 
much. Bailey’s is little over two miles from 
here, yet it lies in a wholly different geological 
region. There’ll be no coal here. Look at the 
soil.” He had reached down and drawn up 
a handful of earth. The late rains had filled 
the hole and the water had been slowly ab- 
sorbed. The handful which Ralph brought up 
for their examination was pale yellow, clayey. 
He could mold it in his hands like a piece of 
putty. 

“No coal or signs of it. Soil like this is not 
good for agriculture. You couldn’t have a 
garden here if you’d give up your time to it. 


44 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


The whole under-strattiin is like that. There 
isn’t six inches of soil on top. No wonder the 
trees don’t grow here. They can’t get more 
than a foothold.” 

He stood rolling the handful of clay. At last 
he succeeded in making several marbles from 
it. He handed one to each girl. “Here’s a 
souvenir of the most profitable afternoon you 
ever spent,” he said; “when you heard a 
practical illustrated lecture on geology.” 

Hester walked with her friends to the top of 
the hill and there left them. She crossed the 
brook without help, and went down through the 
orchard and into the living-room. She was 
pleased with the work she had done there. 
Now, she surveyed the decorations with a feel- 
ing of pride. There was nothing at all beauti- 
ful about it, but Hester was a schoolgirl and 
she had arranged the pictures after schoolgirl 
fashion. 

The picture of the pink-cheeked boy was 
gone. She noticed that the instant she entered 
the room. She looked about to be sure that 
i it had not fallen or slipped back of the others. 
She had given it a prominent place on the man- 



“ I’t.l remember you all when we get our royalties.” — Page 43. 





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HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


45 


tel, for there was something pleasing to her 
m the bright boyish face. 

She went up to her Aunt Debby’s room to 
ask her if she had taken Jim Baker’s picture 
away. She found her Aunt Debby at her writ- 
ing-desk. 

“Come in, Hessie,” she said. “I was writ- 
ing but a note, and it is finished. Ealph 
brought me a letter from Conrad and "Wester- 
leigh. You know who they are. They have 
an office over in Mill Street.” 

“Lawyers, Aunt Debby? Yes, I’ve seen 
their office.” 

“They have asked me to call at my earliest 
convenience on a matter of business. I pre- 
sume it is something about gas or oil shares. 
They have that in charge. Sam Bowerman told 
me that the men were working hard to get a 
company floating. I am afraid they will waste 
their time with me. I have no ready money to 
invest and even if I had I am quite convinced 
that I should not trust it to Conrad and Wes- 
terleigh.” 

“Are they dishonest. Aunt Debby?” 

“I do not know that that word would ap- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 45 


tel, for there was something pleasing to her 
in the bright boyish face. 

She went up to her Aunt Dehby’s room to 
ask her if she had taken Jim Baker’s picture 
away. She found her Aunt Debby at her writ- 
ing-desk. 

“Come in, Hessie,” she said. “I was writ- 
ing but a note, and it is finished. Ealph 
brought me a letter from Conrad and Wester- 
leigh. You know who they are. They have 
an office over in Mill Street.” 

“Lawyers, Aunt Debby? Yes, I’ve seen 
their office.” 

“They have asked me to call at my earliest 
convenience on a matter of business. I pre- 
sume it is something about gas or oil shares. 
They have that in charge. Sam Bowerman told 
me that the men were working hard to get a 
company floating. I am afraid they will waste 
their time with me. I have no ready money to 
invest and even if I had I am quite convinced 
that I should not trust it to Conrad and Wes- 
terleigh.” 

“Are they dishonest. Aunt Debby?” 

“I do not know that that word would ap- 


46 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


ply. It may be a little too strong. They have 
the reputation of catering to that element whose 
sense of right and wrong is not normally devel- 
oped. I would not like to say that they are 
dishonest. It is simply that they do not al- 
ways see matters from the same standpoint as 
some of us.” 

“Wm you go to see them, Aunt Debby?” 

“I think so, Hessie. I have business in town 
to-morrOw afternoon, and I can attend to it at 
the same time. I can not go until late in the 
afternoon.” She smiled at Hester’s eager 
look. She understood what it implied and 
shook her head slowly in negation. 

“No, you cannot come with me. I intend 
letting you stay at home to keep house and have 
a lunch for me when I return. I may not be 
home before six o’clock.” 

“May I cook what I wish?” asked Hester. 

Her Aunt Debby smiled in affirmation of the 
request. 

“You may, at least, try to cook what you 
wish.” 

“I promised Helen Loraine that she and I 
would do all the cooking when she came to see 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


47 


me this summer. She is not allowed to inter- 
fere with their chef; and she’s just dying to 
learn how to make an angel food, and real old- 
fashioned flap-jacks such as she read about once 
in a book.” 


CHAPTEE III 


f I ''HE afternoon was far advanced when Miss 
Debby set forth for town to attend to a 
number of little business affairs there. Hes- 
ter went with her to the gate and stood looking 
after her until she had disappeared from sight. 

Debby Alden was worth looking at. She 
wore a simple white shirt-waist suit of heavy 
linen. It was perfection in the way of making 
and laundry work. There were no furbelows 
of any kind. Her linen collar, which was hand- 
embroidered, was fastened with a cameo pin 
which had been her Grandmother Palmer’s. A 
simply trimmed straw turban, white wash- 
gloves, and a white linen parasol completed her 
toilet. Her gloves had been put on before she 
left the house. She was watching herself 
closely for Hester’s sake. She did not wish 
the girl to be careless of trifles. After all, it 
was in these trifles that the marks of a woman’s 
culture and breeding were shown. 

48 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


49 


Wlien Miss Debby could no longer be seen, 
Hester went into tbe bouse and set about the 
preparation of tbe evening meal. Debby bad 
said “luncb,” but Hester intended having some- 
thing worthy tbe name of dinner. Her cook- 
ing was mostly theoretical. She bad helped 
her Aunt Debby, but bad never taken tbe re- 
sponsibility of preparing a meal alone. There 
were cook-books, ancient and modem, on tbe 
pantry shelves. Taking down tbe one with tbe 
most attractive cover, Hester began making out 
a menu. 

“I shall have cream tomato soup,” she said. 
“That does not look diflScult, and canned to- 
matoes will do as well as others. That will be 
tbe first course.” She deliberated some time. 
Tbe more elaborate menus embraced a meat 
course with vegetables and a salad course sepa- 
rate. 

“There’s cold roast beef from yesterday’s 
dinner,” she ran over tbe available articles in 
tbe larder while she sat on a footstool by tbe 
window with tbe big book on her lap and a tab- 
let and pencil ready for notes on tbe window- 
sill. 


50 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


‘ ‘ I can warm up tlie gravy. For vegetables, 
I’ll have mashed potatoes and creamed com. 
There, the second course is off my mind.” The 
matter of a salad was a little more difficult. 
She could reach no conclusion in regard to it. 
Tomato was tabooed because of the soup; po- 
tato salad could not be thought of because of 
that vegetable’s appearing with the meat 
course. The other recipes called for meats or 
fish, ingredients which could not be prepared 
on short notice. 

There was canned salmon in the house, but 
neither she nor Aunt Debby really cared 
for salmon. It was kept in the store-closet 
for what Aunt Debby called an emergency 
meal. 

“It is worse than solid geometry,” Hester 
concluded. She would have managed it some 
way, for she was not one to give up, had not the 
vigorous ringing of the hall bell brought her 
to her feet. This meant something in the Al- 
den home. Eagmen and peddlers came to the 
kitchen door. Friends who came in for a 
friendly chat came by way of the great double 
door of the living-room, where an iron knocker 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 51 


hung. Few came or went by way of the great 
wide hall with its rambling stairway. 

“Strangers,” was Hester’s first thought. 
Laying aside her gingham work-apron, she an- 
swered the summons as quickly as possible, yet 
not before a second vigorous ringing resounded 
through the house. Surely some one of de- 
termination, purpose, and physical strength was 
pulling the bell. 

Hester opened the door. Before she had an 
opportunity for any form of salutation a ques- 
tion was almost hurled in her face. 

‘ ‘ Miss Debby Alden lives here ? Don ’t she ? ’ ’ 

“Yes, she does,” said Hester. She hesitated 
about asking the women to enter. They did 
not seem to be the kind that Debby Alden would 
wish to enter her home with the mistress ab- 
sent. One woman was of middle age, portly in 
figure and loud in dress. Her hair, which was 
an elaborate construction of puffs and curls, 
was evidently bleached. Her hat was almost 
too large to admit her entrance through a single 
door. It was laden with plumes, and a veil 
swept over her shoulders. Her dress was of 
white and purple figured silk. She wore it so 


52 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


tight that a deep breath might have caused it 
to part at the seams. Her gloves were notice- 
ably soiled, and the lace at her throat might 
have been improved by an introduction to soap 
and water. 

Her companion was a young woman, or 
rather, girl. She, too, was dressed in the ex- 
treme of fashion, although with her youthful 
face and slender figure the lack of taste was not 
so marked, 

“Yes, Miss Alden lives here,” said Hester. 
Then she added, “She is not at home at pres- 
ent. She will not be here until six o’clock.” 

“I know that,” said the woman. “We’ll 
just come in anyhow and look about.” She 
swept into the house, almost pushing Hester 
from her path. The door into the parlor with 
its horsehair furniture and steel engravings 
was closed, but the door of the great living- 
room stood open. Into this the woman swept, 
and her daughter followed, 

Hester was annoyed. For an instant, she 
was tempted to ask them to withdraw, but she 
reconsidered in time and, without a word, fol- 
lowed them into the living-room. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 53 


“This is a nice, cheery room,” cried the 
woman. “I can breathe here. After those 
miserable little holes of flats — ” She stopped 
suddenly when Hester appeared. The girl 
whom the woman had addressed as Deborah 
had walked to the mantelpiece and was looking 
over the pictures. There was an air of assump- 
tion and boldness about her that was anything 
but pleasant. 

The elder woman moved about the room, ex- 
amining every article in it as though something 
might escape her. 

“Is this the dining-room?” she asked, going 
up to the door which was closed. She did not 
wait for an answer but opened the door and 
looked into the room. The table was set. The 
old-fashioned silver service was resplendent. 
Grandmother Alden’s china with gold bands 
filled the corner cupboard. Debby always used 
a quaint old-fashioned blue and white service 
which was on the table. 

“Deborah, do come here,” cried the woman. 
“Did you ever see anything so beautiful and 
quaint?” The girl followed. The two com- 
mented on everything in the room. 


54 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


“What an old-fashioned ingrain carpet,” said 
the girl contentedly. “It looks as though it 
had come from the ark.” 

“That can be easily changed,” said her 
mother. “Don’t let a piece of carpet put yon 
out of sorts.” She seemed afraid that her 
daughter might make a show of temper. While 
the mother was stronger and larger, and had 
the appearance of being the aggressive one, it 
was the daughter whose will was supreme and 
whose slightest caprice was catered to. 

“Nothing will satisfy me but the house,” ex- 
claimed the woman. “I don’t wonder that 
Ezra talked so much about it. He’d be mighty 
glad to know that you were here at last, Deb- 
orah. The house and you were the two things 
in the world that he set store by.” 

“Yes,” said the girl. It was a word merely 
as it fell from her lips. There was neither af- 
fection nor interest. The older woman looked 
at her sharply, then turned and walked to the 
window. Here she stood for some minutes with 
her handkerchief applied to her eyes. Her 
shoulders moved convulsively. Yet, when she 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 55 


turned to Hester a few minutes later, there was 
not a sign of a tear in her eyes. 

“I suppose this leads upstairs,” cried the 
woman, starting toward the door which opened 
upon the rear staircase. “Oh, these dear old 
houses ! What loves of places they are ! Think 
of having two sets of stairs. Why, in the city, 
they’d build an entire flat on the same space 
that’s wasted in that front hall.” 

She had started toward the door, but for once 
Hester was equal to the occasion. Quick as a 
flash she turned the key and removed it and 
stood facing the woman.' “You cannot open 
that door,” she said with decision. “I cannot 
understand why you have taken the liberty of 
entering this house and acting as you have. It 
must end here. You can go no farther. I 
should not have permitted your going as far 
as this.” 

Hester’s spirit had reasserted itself. She 
had been so taken by surprise by the unusual 
proceedings that she had lost her bearings for 
a time. She had regained them now and would 
be master of the situation. 


56 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


“You permit it ? ” exclaimed the woman. For 
an instant, she had lost control of herself. Hes- 
ter was conscious that the voice of the stranger 
was uncultivated, crude, and harsh. “You per- 
mit it? And who are you? I want you to un- 
derstand right here that I’m the one, and not 
you, who has the right to permit or not permit 
what’s going on in this house.” 

“Don’t get excited, Mother,” said the girl. 
“What difference does it make what she says?” 

“It makes a great deal of difference whether 
or not I’ll allow myself to be ordered about by 
a mere upstart.” 

“But, Mother, do be careful. You know how 
you’re apt to say too much.” The girl was 
anxious. She had evidently had some experi- 
ence with her mother’s hasty speech and lei- 
surely repentance. Her words, however, served 
only to make the woman more decided. 

“Just keep a quiet tongue yourself, Deborah. 
It hain’t your place to tell me what to do or what 
not to do. What’s the world coming to any- 
how if a mother cannot express her opinion 
without having her child fly up at her.” 

There had been no so-called “flying up” on 


iW. 



“ You CAN GO NO FARTHER. I SHOULD NOT HAVE PERMITTED YOUR 
GOING AS FAR AS THIS.” — Page 55. 



HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 57 


the part of the girl. She might have declared 
it so. Words would have been wasted. The 
only thing to do was to let the woman say all 
she would and to exhaust her temper and en- 
ergy in the effort. The girl turned away and 
began to examine the china upon the table. Her 
eyes fell wistfully upon the old-fashioned sil- 
ver service, and wandered about the room as 
though attracted and influenced by the sense of 
home that was everywhere in evidence. 

Hester Alden caught that wistful homesick 
look. She was unconsciously touched by it. 
Her heart went out in sympathy for the girl. 
She knew not why, but she felt sorry. “All over 
sorry,” as she had been wont to say when she 
was a child. 

Little time was given, however, for her to in- 
dulge in such worthy feeling. The woman was 
not to be turned aside. She came directly be- 
fore Hester, stamped her foot and would have 
taken the key, had not Hester put her hands 
back of her. Hester looked directly at her. 
She was not afraid. She determined that 
the stranger should not go upstairs, and she 
would see to it that this did not happen. Hes- 


58 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


ter was not afraid, but sbe wished that her Aunt 
Debhy would come. 

The woman’s flow of language had not ceased 
for an instant. She faced Hester, toward whom 
she now directed her words. “You will not 
permit me I Of all the hold things for a person 
in your position to say to me. Do you know 
who I am? No, you don’t, but I know you well 
enough and you’ll know me later — ^know me too 
well, maybe. The idea of a little beggar that 
Debby Alden picked up on the public road, 
standing before me and telling me that she’ll 
not permit me to go through what’s my own.” 

Hester flinched under these words, but she 
did not move or attempt to reply. With her 
back to the door, she faced the window which 
looked out on the country road. While the 
woman was delivering her harangue, Sam Bow- 
erman came down the road. Sam was a delib- 
erate creature, who did not believe in doing in 
one minute what might reasonably be dragged 
through two. Fortunately for Hester Alden, 
Sam Bowerman was walking slowly, whittling a 
stick as he went. 

Hester did not stop to think. The instant 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 59 


her eyes fell upon Sam, she hurried across the 
room, flung open the door and cried, “Mr, Bow- 
erman, Mr. Bowerman, please come quick.” 

Sam paused. Then when he had caught the 
import of her words, nodded affirmatively and 
moved in through the gate. He came, but he 
did not come quickly. 

The strange woman ceased her harangue 
when Hester called. When Sam Bowerman ap- 
peared, however, she had assumed her hold, ag- 
gressive look. She straightened herself up and 
put on a look of defiance as Sam entered the 
room. 

“Now, you see what youVe done, Mother,” 
said the girl. Again Hester’s heart went out to 
5 her. 

“Well, Hester, what’s doing and what do you 
want of me?” asked Sam. 

“I wish you’d ask these people to leave,” 
said Hester. “I don’t know them — ^not even 
their names and they’ve come in and have al- 
most taken possession and Aunt Debby is not 
here.” 

“I’ll — ” began the woman; but her daughter 
touched her arm. “Come, Mother, we might as 


60 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


well go. Wliat’s to be gained by staying?” 
Sam looked over tbe guests from bead to foot. 
His calm deliberation was more effective now 
than baste or excitement. 

“Well, that’s a pretty kettle-of-fisb, ” be said 
to Hester, and then turning to tbe woman, be 
said, “If I was you, I’d go borne now and call 
sometime again when Debby berself is borne.” 

“I’ve as much right here as Debby — ” began 
the woman. 

“That may be; it may be,” said Sam; “I 
won’t argue tbe question, but until it’s settled 
straight and clear before tbe courts and all, I’d 
stay off tbe premises unless I’d been invited to 
enter. There’s no use of your being brought 
up for trespass, you know. J ust use a little com- 
mon sense and tact and you’ll save yourself 
time and money.” 

There was wisdom in bis words which ap- 
pealed to tbe woman. Sam bad not been ag- 
gressive. He bad spoken to tbe woman as 
though bis interest and good wishes were for 
her. She was willing to do as be suggested, for 
she was impressed with tbe idea that in express- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 61 

ing himself he had considered her rather than 
Hester. 

“Just as you say, sir,” said the woman. She 
moved toward the door. Her silks rustled as 
she moved and her veil floated about her shoul- 
ders. “I shall go as you say, but I’ll come 
again and when I come, I come to stay.” 

“That may all be. It may all be. I hain’t 
one to argue the question, ’ ’ he said. He opened 
the door. The daughter went out quickly as 
though eager to be gone. The mother moved 
slowly in order to maintain her standing and 
to give the impression that she went from choice 
and not by invitation. 

The daughter waited at the turn of the walk. 
She addressed her mother earnestly and almost 
vehemently. Her words were nervous and hur- 
ried. Her voice reached Hester and Sam Bow- 
erman, who stood within the door, but the only ' 
words distinguished were, “Rather give it all 
up than to go through such a thing again.” 

“How did you manage it so nicely?” cried 
Hester, turning to her companion. “The 
woman was angry, very angry just before you 


62 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


came in, but she went off as quiet as a lamb, 
I was afraid you’d be compelled to put her out 
by force.” 

“No use attempting any such move with an 
angry person. There’s no good arguing. It 
only makes her madder than ever. The best 
way is just agree with them, and then they’ll 
turn around and do the other thing.” 

Sam had learned his wisdom in a school of 
experience. He knew much of the ways of a 
quick-tempered, sarcastic woman. 

“You spoke as though you knew her,” said 
Hester. “Who is she and what possessed her 
to come here and act as she did?” 

“There’s no telling. I never set eyes on her 
before. I think she’s just a little touched, as 
they say. She may be one of those who take 
notions. I would not worry about it. I’m 
going on now. I’ll wait, though, till you lock 
up the front of the house. You’ll be fussy a 
bit over this. Just turn the kitchen key and 
walk over a bit and talk to Mary.” 

“I believe I will,” said Hester. She was 
wrought up over the affair more than she would 
confess to any one. She knew she would be 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


63 


afraid to be in tbe bouse alone. She knew also 
that she would have a good cry the instant Sam 
Bowerman’s back was turned. 

She locked the door and walked down to the 
gate with him. Here she paused and said, 
“IVe changed my mind. I’ll not go any 
farther. Aunt Debby will expect me to be here 
when she comes home. What if those people 
should come back and, finding no one at home, 
go through the house?” 

“There’s no danger,” said Sam; “you’d bet- 
ter walk along and talk a little while with 
Mary.” 

“No, I feel as though I should stay here. 
I’ll not go back into the house alone,” she added 
quickly. “I’d see that woman with her 
bleached hair everywhere. I’ll sit under the 
apple-tree and wait until Aunt Debby comes 
home.” 

Sam, realizing that Hester was much wrought 
up over the experience of the afternoon, did 
what he could to persuade her to come with him 
and visit with Mary, but Hester was firm. She 
went to the bench under the shade of the apple- 
tree and waited for Debby Alden to appear. As 


64 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


she waited, she reviewed the events of the last 
few days. 

“I wonder if any other girl ever had such 
times as I? I’ve been as happy with Aunt 
Debby as a girl could be. She’s much better 
and kinder than many a mother. I’ve been 
happy and had loads and loads of good times, 
yet there’s been some mighty strange things in 
my life which have never been in the lives of 
other girls. I wonder why?” 

She did wonder and question. Other girls 
lived very much alike, while she had much that 
was strange, even romantic in her life. She 
smiled at last and exclaimed aloud, “I wonder 
if that’s the reason?” There had come to her 
in the midst of her reverie something that Doc- 
tor Weldon had said the year before when she 
had given a lecture on the famous folk in litera- 
ture. It had only been through a wide and 
varied experience, by rebuffs and sorrows of 
their own, that these men and women had been 
able to understand and sympathize with the suf- 
ferings of others. They had become great 
through the things they had suffered. 

“They who sing of the mountain-tops must 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 65 


have one time breathed that air,” Doctor Wel- 
don had said, and the thought came to Hester 
now. Perhaps she was to he one of these 
‘‘world singers,” The thought pleased her for 
a time. She forgot her guests of the afternoon 
and the lunch which should have been prepared 
and sat dreaming of what she might he. 

She laughed at last and came back to the 
present. ‘ ‘ How very silly, ’ ’ she said aloud, ‘ ‘ to 
sit and think of things which may never hap- 
pen, It’s very, very silly, and I will not be so 
foolish as to do that again.” 

At this juncture, she caught a glimpse of her 
Aunt Debby and at once hurried to meet her. 

“I’ve had a very strange experience,” she be- 
gan, “It was the strangest, most romantic af- 
fair — ” 

“Yes, I know all about it,” said Debby Alden 
with great indifference. “I passed the woman 
and her daughter as I was returning, and Sam 
Bowerman came out to his gate to tell me. He 
said two strange women had come to see you 
and had grown quite enthusiastic over a quaint 
house which had almost a century to its credit. 
It is odd how some people do get worked 


66 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


up about things, just because the things are 
old. ’ ’ 

This was seeing matters in a wholly different 
light. Miss Debby’s view of the case was so 
unexpected by Hester that she could only look. 
She had lost the power of expression for a few 
moments. 

They turned into the gate and walked to the 
door without saying a word. Had Hester Alden 
not been so engrossed with her own experiences 
and emotions, she would have observed this un- 
usual quiet on the part of Miss Debby. 

"When they came to the door, Debby Alden 
forced herself to smile and say brightly, “I 
hope you have an excellent lunch, Hester, both 
in quality and quantity. My walk has given me 
an appetite.’’ 

“Oh,” exclaimed Hester. She had forgotten 
the evening meal. She leaned against the frame 
of the door. She actually felt weak. 

“I did intend having a five-course dinner,” 
she began apologetically. “I had the recipe 
ready for cream tomato soup and a salad and 
a light egg sponge cake.” 

“You must have hurried to prepare so much. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 67 


You must be tired, too. Five-course dinners 
are quite a problem even to an experienced cook. 
Why did you prepare so much, Hester?” 

“I didn’t prepare that. I planned to liave 
it ; but my bead was completely turned by these 
visitors. I haven’t anything ready and I had 
made plans for the loveliest dinner.” 

“I am afraid my appetite as it is now cannot 
be satisfied by plans alone,” said Debby, as she 
entered the living-room and laid aside her 
wraps. 

“I will prepare it at once,” cried Hester, and 
she hurried into the kitchen to work instead of 
plan. There lay the cook book and the tablet 
with the recipes nicely copied and the menu 
written out. She pushed them aside. There 
was no time to even think of five courses, nor 
to consider the preparing of them. 

She worked quickly now. The fire was soon 
burning brightly and the kettle boiling. She 
went to the supply closet and brought out a can 
of despised salmon. In a few minutes she told 
her Aunt Debby that lunch was served. Alas, 
for Hester’s castles in the air! They had tum- 
bled as dream castles frequently do. Instead 


68 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


of a dinner of five courses, Debby Alden and 
ber niece sat down to bread and jelly, a cup of 
tea, and salmon wbicb neither tasted. 

Debby was thinking deeply, but she aroused 
herself and kept up a conversation. She did 
not like dull meals and she did not wish Hester 
to form the habit of sitting at the dining-table 
without engaging in conversation. Debby Al- 
den straightened her shoulders and raised her 
head after the proud little fashion which was 
natural with her. 

She told Hester of the new goods displayed in 
the store windows. The Smiths had had their 
house painted and some one else had put up a 
new iron fence. There were many things Debby 
Alden had seen and heard that day, and she re- 
peated them to Hester, giving to each a touch 
of her own dry humor. Hester laughed just as 
Debby intended she should, and forgot her visit- 
ors of the afternoon. 

She almost forgot something else which Debby 
was hoping she would. It was not until the 
lunch was finished and they were about to with- 
draw from the table that a sudden thought came 
to Hester. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 69 


“Did you forget about tbe letter of Conrad 
and Westerleigh, Aunt Debby?” 

“No, I didn’t forget about it, Hester. I met 
Mrs. Orr on tbe street and sbe went with me 
into Abner Stout ’s to see some new laces. Sbe ’s 
making Jane a white dress.” 

‘ ‘ J ane told me about it yesterday. Don ’t you 
remember. Aunt Debby, I told you that sbe in- 
tended having an overskirt if her mother would 
make it that way. Did Conrad and Wester- 
leigb want you for anything particular. Aunt 
Debby?” 

“Yes, they did,” said Miss Debby slowly. 
A crimson spot bad come to her cheeks and was 
slowly spreading to her temples. Sbe hesitated 
about telling Hester all that Conrad and Wes- 
terleigb wanted. There was no use in putting 
the burden of care on Hester’s shoulders. On 
the other hand, if Hester did not know all, she 
would anticipate, imagine, and in her own mind 
would make matters worse, perhaps, than they 
were. 

“Yes, they wanted to see me,” she repeated. 
“Their business had nothing whatever to do 
with stocks. It — ^it,” she hesitated again, and 


70 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


looked up at Hester. “It is very strange, all 
together, Hester, I feel to-day as though the 
dead had come hack to life.” 

Hester’s appalled expression brought Debby 
Alden to herself. “There, there, don’t look so. 
Listen, and I shall tell you all.” 


CHAPTEE IV 


D EBBY ALDEN told Hester aU of that in- 
terview with Conrad and Westerleigh. 
She told it without any show of personal feel- 
ing. She did this for her own as well as Hes- 
ter’s sake. She made an effort to present the 
matter to her niece as the attorneys had pre- 
sented it to her. 

“You’ve heard me speak of my brother 
Ezra?” she asked. 

“Not very often, Aunt Debby. The first time 
you mentioned his name was last winter. I re- 
member I did not know whom you meant.” 

“There’s an old saying that every flock has 
its black sheep. People always gave that name 
to Ezra, although I do not believe he ever de- 
served it. He was thoughtless, light-hearted, 
and not so stable or set as were all the other 
Aldens and Palmers. That is what mother al- 
ways said. To me. Brother Ezra was only a 
name. He was the oldest and I the youngest. 
71 


72 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


I was just a cMld when he ran from home and 
went west. 

“He did not like farming. Father said he 
might go into the City to school. He went for a 
time, but felt as though he would not care to be 
a professional man. Father gave him several 
chances, but Ezra wasn’t stable. He grew tired 
of everything he tried. It was just as we all 
do, only the rest of us ‘stuck,’ tired or not tired. 

“It was the same after he went west. He 
was first on a ranch, then in silver mines and 
then in the lumber camp. Then the letters, 
which had been coming at intervals of months, 
ceased and nothing more was heard from him. 
When father died, mother had me write and 
have notices put in papers asking about him, 
but nothing came of it, although we sent letters 
to mining-camps and lumber jobs. That was 
twenty years ago, and not one word since, until 
to-day.” 

“Yes, until to-day. And did you have a let- 
ter from him to-day. Aunt Debby?” 

“No, but Conrad and Westerleigh had a let- 
ter from his wife and daughter more than a 
month ago. They wrote to get Ezra’s share 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 73 


of father’s estate. You understand, I believed 
firmly that Ezra bad died long before and that 
all father and mother left belonged to me. I 
was really honest in my convictions. I would 
not have touched a cent that belonged to Ezra, 
had I thought him living or had I known he had 
died and left a daughter. ’ ’ Her eyes filled with 
tears. “He remembered me, too, and called 
his little girl Deborah, after me.” 

A sudden understanding came to Hester. 

“Why then. Aunt Debby, that woman with 
the bleached hair — ” 

Debby silenced her with a gesture. “She’s 
my brother’s widow, Hester, and your aunt. 
She may not he the kind of woman we’re used 
to knowing, hut she’s our kin now, and it is not 
the proper thing to lessen your name by criti- 
cizing those who hear it. Maybe we’ll feel 
sorry for her when we come to know her bet- 
ter. She may not have had proper bringing 
up.” 

Debby Alden was as keen and logical as one 
could be along certain lines. There were con- 
ditions of life, however, and a class of people 
of whom she did not know and of whom her 


74 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


mind had no conception. There were qualities 
of mind which were foreign alike to her and her 
people. She had no conception of such quali- 
ties, or the people of whom they were charac- 
teristic. 

“Conrad and Westerleigh have been engaged 
by this woman. I think they called her Alice. 
They are authorized to present her claim and 
see that she gets justice. They wished me to 
know that they have substantiated proof, and 
so sent for me. They had the marriage certifi- 
cate and some old letters I had written Ezra. 
There was one of my pictures with my name on 
the back. I had it taken when I was about the 
age you are now, Hester, but I was not so tall.” 

“And will they — that woman and girl come 
here to live. Aunt Debby? I would not mind 
the girl so much, but the woman — ” She re- 
membered in time that that woman was kin 
of the Aldens and the very relationship implied 
and demanded respect. 

“I can tell nothing about that yet. Every- 
thing must be divided. Ezra was entitled to 
half of what father and mother left. I should 
not like to give up this house. Father was born 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 75 


here, and so was I. A stranger could not have 
the feeling for it that I have. I think I can ar- 
range to keep the place as it is. Mr. Conrad 
said something about not wishing to push me 
too hard. His clients would be willing to take 
the woodland, letting me have the house and 
the ground about it. That would mean almost 
all that is under cultivation.” 

“That will be fine. Why not tell them you 
will do that. Aunt Debby? We can live here — 
just you and I without being bothered by 
strangers. If we need more money than we 
have, I can easily earn some.” 

Debby smiled at the girl’s self-confidence. 
“Tell me, Hester, how yon could possibly earn 
money for us to live on.” 

“In lots of ways. Aunt Debby. I have often 
thought of it. There are more .ways than one 
that I could earn a living.” 

“Is preparing course dinners one of them?” 

Hester’s cheeks flushed. For an instant, she 
was touched and her eyes were swimming with 
tears as she looked up at her aunt. 

“Never mind, Hessie, I was teasing just a 
little. You generally fulfill your obligations. 


76 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


This afternoon was an exception and I do not 
wonder that you forgot that people must eat.” 

“Why don’t you let them have the woodland 
and the ravine? It really does not amount to 
much. You have never gotten any money from 
it. Have you, Aunt Debby?” 

“I never have and never expect to. It is 
really worth nothing at all. The timber if cut 
very close is worth but a few hundred dollars. 
Because it is of so little value, I do not wish to 
make the division in that way. They do not 
understand that neither soil nor timber is good 
for anything. I do; so I must not take ad- 
vantage of their lack of knowledge.” 

There was silence between them for some 
time. Hester kept her eyes fixed in a design 
in the table-cloth. She was trying to think of 
some fair division by which Aunt Debby and 
she could retain the house and yard and the 
gardens beyond. A number of ideas came to 
her, but she did not put them into words, feeling 
confident that Debby Alden might not consider 
them just to Ezra’s heirs. There were other 
considerations of the subject which were pre- 
senting themselves to Hester’s mind. When 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 77 


the division wonld be made, would there be 
enough for Aunt Debby and her to live upon, 
or would it be necessary for them to work out- 
side the home in order to provide for it and 
themselves ? There was no roundabout method 
in Hester’s mind. When a question presented 
itself, she put it into words directly. 

“Shall we have enough to live upon, Aunt 
Debby?” she asked. 

“We shall not starve,” replied Debby Alden. 
“I never knew of an Alden starving and I 
should not like to be the first of the name to do 
it—” 

“I know we shall not starve, but will there 
be anything to pay for our clothes and what 
we eat, and — ” 

“To go to the Seminary until we have a 
diploma?” added Debby. She felt that Hester 
was taking the matter too seriously — quite as 
seriously as she herself — and she did what she 
could to loosen the tension. 

“I am afraid there may be no more years at 
the Seminary for you and delightful care-free 
months in town for me ; but that shall not worry 
us, however. We did without those luxuries 


78 HESTER'S WAGE-EARNING 


before and were bappy enough. We can do 
without them again, I fancy, and he as happy 
as ever.” 

“But your interest money — ^the money you 
use to pay the expenses of the house. Will you 
have that?” 

“That was part of what father left. Half 
of it belongs to Ezra, too. We will deny our- 
selves hereafter and make the half cover what 
the whole used to. That will mean no five- 
course dinners, hut bread and tea and jelly wiU 
keep us from starving.” 

“I wish, Aunt Debby, you would not laugh 
at me. I really wish to know all about this 
trouble and how much money we will have to 
live on.” 

It was wiser, perhaps, to teU her all. Debby 
explained the finances of the family. There 
was money out on school bonds and city bonds. 
In town she held several mortgages on desirable 
property. This had afforded her a good in- 
come and, with her home and garden, had given 
to her and Hester more than a comfortable liv- 
ing. If cut in two, however, one part would be 
but a scant living. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 79 


“We shall not worry about that, Hester. We 
shall wait until the matter is adjusted. We’ll 
get along nicely. I never knew an Alden or a 
Palmer either, for that matter, to get ‘stuck.’ 
I shall he true to my family. Never fear.” 

She arose from the table. “That is settled 
now. We’ll think no more about it. We’ll 
clear away the lunch and then take a walk down 
to see Jane. It is beautiful outdoors. We’ll 
move into the simlight and not sit indoors mop- 
ing.” 

When the work was completed, they walked 
down the road to call on Mrs. Orr and Jane. 
Debby kept up a conversation and by mere force 
of will brought Hester into it. She was de- 
termined that the girl should not let her mind 
dwell on the difficulties which were besetting 
their path. 

For that evening at least, Debby was success- 
ful. Hester chatted and laughed and for the 
time forgot the confidence of the tea-table. The 
following morning, however, she was left to her 
own devices. She had not slept well the night 
before. She had reproduced mentally all the 
incidents of the day, and when she fell asleep 


80 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


she dreamed of Mrs. Ezra, which was to be ex- 
pected. The yellow-haired woman of the dream 
was no less formidable than the real woman. 

Hester went even further than picturing past 
events. She saw with her mind’s eye all that 
might take place. Aunt Debby and she were 
being moved from the old home; then she saw 
themselves shut up in a little dark flat, making 
a pretense of living. So her mind went from 
one scene to another, step by step. So real had 
it become to her that she found her eyes over- 
flowing and her body shaking convulsively. She 
put her head under the covers and sobbed. It 
was all so pathetic and sad, yet Hester found 
a genuine enjoyment in picturing the scene. 
She had found the joy of phantasy — an intel- 
lectual state where suffering is a mark of rank. 

The following morning she had an errand to 
Mary Bowerman’s. When the sun was hot, the 
way across the orchard and through the ravine 
was pleasanter than the public highway. Hes- 
ter took the path through the ravine. She 
missed the beauty of the brook and light and 
shadows, for her mind was yet working on the 
problems which had presented themselves the 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


81 


evening before. She was in a jubilant mental 
state now. She came to tbe brook and sat down 
on tbe trunk of a fallen tree and laid her plans. 
She intended to begin at once and take care of 
her Aunt Debby. The humorous side of the 
case did not present itself to Hester. It was 
really ridiculous to think of Debby Alden, 
strong, keen-minded and practical, and barely 
past forty years of age, needing any one to 
take care of her. It looked very much as 
though it would be the other way rormd, and 
Debby would see to taking care of others. But 
Hester was honest in her convictions and am- 
bitions. She would work and provide the 
money for the household expenses. Just how 
she would manage to do this was not clear to 
her just yet; but she had faith in herself and 
the way opens somehow to those who start in 
to win. 

She sat on the log with her head bent for- 
ward, her elbows on her knees, and her up- 
turned palms pressing hard on each cheek. It 
was a good position for thinking, for it shut 
out the world about. Her eyes rested on only 
a tiny portion of the brook. She went over in 


82 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


her mind all the work possible for a girl to do : 
clerking— she knew she would not like that; 
work in an office — ^but she could not use a type- 
writer and that had become a necessity; teach- 
ing — she shuddered at the thought. Hearing 
and explaining lessons would not be bad, but 
managing a roomful of children would be be- 
yond her. Writing and newspaper work — this 
came last when all the while it had been really 
first in her mind. That would be only a pleas- 
ure. She could do it, too. She did not have 
a doubt in her mind of that. Here was some- 
thing to work upon. Her spirits went up like 
the mercury of a thermometer with the bulb 
over flame. She would get on a newspaper 
staff, and incidentally write a few short stories 
so fine and original that editors would write 
beseeching her to send her work to them. She 
saw herself as plain as could be sitting before 
her desk opening letters. All about her were 
manuscript papers in all degrees of complete- 
ness and incompleteness. 

There would be a great deal of money as a re- 
sult of this work. Aunt Debby would no longer 
need count her pennies so closely. Hester 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


83 


would hire a little maid to wash the dishes. 
Hester herself disliked washing dishes. Debby 
had made an effort to cultivate a dish-washing 
taste in her niece, but had not succeeded. 

Hester as she sat on the trunk of the up- 
turned tree had become a novelist, a millionaire, 
and had taken several European tours — all 
while she sat on the upturned tree. The only 
trouble with her plans was that the first step 
had not been taken. An hour passed. Hester 
had received as much pleasure from her air 
castles as though they were already on good 
stone foundations — perhaps more. So happy 
was she in her dreams that she might have sat 
thus all day, unconscious of the time, had not 
the sound of voices broken in upon her reverie. 

For an instant she was afraid and drew back 
that she might be hidden among the low alder 
bushes. The voices drew nearer. There was 
the sound of crackling branches as the persons 
made their way through the light underbrush. 
They were not coming by the footpath, then, 
and would not see her. Hester sat quiet. She 
was afraid of tramps and was afraid that it 
might be these wanderers who were making 


84 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


their way over the hill. Any one but a stranger 
would have known the path. 

At last three men came over the brow of the 
hill. They had come in from the public road 
and had not crossed the fields belongiug either 
to Sam Bowerman or Debby Alden. They had 
taken the most difficult way ; but they were not 
liable to be seen from either house. They 
paused when they came to the brow of the hill. 
They were less than a rod from Hester. She 
pushed aside the alder branches and peered 
out. Two of the men she had never seen be- 
fore. They looked like prosperous business 
men. Both were clean, honest-looking. The 
third — Hester instinctively shrank back when 
her eyes fell upon him. It was the man called 
Jim Bates, whom she had seen in the train the 
day she and Aunt Debby had come home, and 
who had known some one whom Hester 
strangely resembled. 

Jim Bates was doing the talking. The other 
men listened attentively, now and then asking 
a question or making a gesture. The man. 
Bates, talked rapidly. Then he walked to the 
brow of the hill and pointed in different direc- 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


85 


tions as though he were making an explanation 
to the men. 

“It’s a business proposition to us and noth- 
ing more,” said the elder of the listeners. “If 
the thing is worth while to us, we are willing to 
buy. If not, why then the other thing. You 
understand that we’re not in this as a matter 
of pleasure or sentiment. It’s a business prop- 
osition, pure and simple.” 

Hester heard. She liked the man’s appear- 
ance and voice. Jim Bates began again. This 
time Hester caught part of his words, for in 
his excitement his voice became higher pitched. 
“I’m not asking you to take my word for it. 
You saw the report that your own man made. 
He knows his business, doesn’t he? He knows 
salt from sand. Then in addition to this, 
there’s the report that the State geologist made. 
That’s printed and verified and published that 
every one may read. ’ ’ 

He stood erect and interested. He had a 
roll of newspapers in his right hand. With 
these he kept up a continued movement, strik- 
ing them against the palm of his left hand to 
emphasize the statements he was making. Sud- 


86 HESTEE’S WAGE-EABNING 


denly lie thrust the papers before his compan- 
ions. “The report’s here — the State geolo- 
gist’s. Do you wish to see it?” 

The man waved him aside with a gesture. 

“We’ve seen it.” He smiled blandly and 
added, “Indeed, I may say we have made a 
study of it.” 

They moved farther away. The man called 
Bates was yet talking and explaining. His sen- 
tences were no longer clear to Hester. Just a 
word reached her ears. “Decision soon — one 
hundred thousand at the least — three months’ 
option.” They moved away in the direction 
from which they had come. Hester arose and 
crossing the brook made her way to the Bow- 
erman house. She gave little thought to the 
conversation she had heard. “I’m getting to 
be an eavesdropper,” she said to herself and 
smiled at the thought. “Twice within a short 
time, I’ve sat and listened to what was not in- 
tended for my ears. I suppose my hearing 
really did not matter. I don’t think it was dis- 
honest to listen, placed as I was. Neither time 
could I help hearing, nor could I get up and 
walk away.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 87 


Three strange men talking business. Noth- 
ing at all important. She did not give it a sec- 
ond thought. 

Mary Bowerman was very much excited over 
a camping-party which she thought of organiz- 
ing. 

“Father has a camp up Bogg’s Eun,” she 
said. “Camping is all the rage now. If I can 
manage it, we’ll make up a party and go and 
stay for a week. The camps were new last 
winter and nice and clean. August is just the 
month for camping.” 

“You can easily find enough people to go. 
I’m sure I would not hesitate. That is, if I’m 
to be invited, ’ ’ she added. It came to her then 
that in view of the newspaper position, which 
she meant to secure, and the great amount of 
money she meant to earn, she would have no 
time to go camping. She had judgment enough 
not to tell her plans to any one else. She lis- 
tened to Mary’s ideas concerning the camp and 
offered all the advice that she could. 

“I think Aunt Elizabeth Kenson will chap- 
eron us.” 

“That will be lovely. Every one likes her,” 


88 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


said Hester. “You’ll name your camp, won’t 
you? Every one I ever heard of gave their 
camp a name.” 

“Certainly. Do you think we’d let it go 
without a name? Jane Orr thinks Camp Eliza- 
beth would be appropriate in honor of the 
chaperon, you know.” 

“Yes, I think it should be,” said Hester. 

This Aunt Elizabeth, as every one called her, 
was aunt to no one at all — and yet aunt to every 
young person of her young acquaintance. She 
had neither niece nor nephew. She was home- 
maker for a brother whose wife and children 
had died many years before. She was a woman 
almost sixty. She laughed and sang and had 
a good joke at her tongue’s end. Her cookies 
and salads had won a reputation throughout the 
countryside. When her neighbors had children 
of school age, Aunt Libby put her cookie-jar on 
the back porch so that they would not need to 
track mud in on her clean kitchen floor. By 
tactful methods as that of properly placing a 
cookie-jar. Miss Kenson had won for herself a 
large following of self-constituted nieces and 
nephews. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


89 


While Hester listened to the plans of the 
prospective camp, the strangers had come down 
from the hill and ravine and passed along the 
road before the Bowerman home. Hester saw 
them and concluded that since the men had gone 
she would return home by the way she came. 

It was almost midday when she bade Mary 
Bowerman good-hy. Aunt Debby had told her 
not to stay long, but with her day-dreaming as 
she sat on the trunk of the tree, and being de- 
tained by the strange men in her way, she had 
spent the entire morning away from home. As 
though to compensate for her being a laggard, 
she almost ran across the field and the brook, 
but when it came to the ascent of the hill she 
was out of breath and could not hurry. 

At the top of the hill lay the papers which 
Jim Bates had thrown aside when his compan- 
ions had declared that they did not care to look 
at them. The sheets were loose and the breeze 
had scattered them about. Hester paused long 
enough to pick one up. It was a bulletin issued 
by the government. It was a mass of technical 
terms in geology. Hester read part of one 
page. Silica— 37.13 ; Alumina 52.31; Titanic 


90 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Acid 4.26; Iron 3.66; Lime .60; Magnesia .18; 
Potasli .62; Soda 1.22; Total 99.98. This 
stratum lies in the region embraced — ” Hes- 
ter personally cared nothing about it. She hur- 
ried along home with the paper yet in her hand. 
When she entered the summer kitchen or out- 
kitchen, she threw the paper into a basket where 
Debby kept refuse for kindling the fire. 


CHAPTER V 


D erby ALDEN with all her keenness and 
years of experience was unsophisticated 
in some matters. She could not conceive of 
certain conditions of deceit and knavery. 
Therefore when Conrad and Westerleigh told 
her the story of Ezra’s marriage, and the claim 
that his wife and daughter had brought, and 
had shown her a marriage certificate and the 
letters she herself had written to Ezra, she ac- 
cepted the matter as settled and stood ready to 
give to the woman and her daughter Ezra’s 
share of the Alden estate. 

Fortunately for her, however, the deeds and 
bonds were in a safe with Hendig and Hintner. 
Debby’s asking for them entailed questions, and 
soon the attorneys knew that Ezra’s widow had 
appeared to claim her share. 

“And you mean to hand it over without a 
word — ^without investigating the claim?” asked 
the junior partner. He was surprised at Debby 
91 


92 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Alden. He had believed her to be intensely 
practical. 

“It’s only right that Ezra’s heirs should have 
his share,” she said. “I would not be dishon- 
est.” 

“Nor would I have you be. Eesponsibilities 
work in both directions, Miss Alden. You 
never have fully grasped that.” 

She looked at him in surprise. His words 
sounded much like a criticism of her conduct, 
“lam afraid I do not fully understand.” 

“We must not only be honest ourselves, but 
we must keep other people to it. I agree with 
you that Ezra’s heirs should have every cent 
that is theirs, but I would be quite sure that 
they were his heirs.” 

“You think — ” began Debby. The attorney 
shook his head and laughed. “No, I do not 
think. They tell me that lawyers are not ex- 
pected to, but I assure you of one thing. I 
would have positive proof before I gave one 
cent. To do otherwise would put a premium 
on trickery and knavery.” 

“I saw the marriage certificate. They had 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 93 


letters, too, wHcli I had written to Ezra. That 
is how they found my address.” 

“Undoubtedly; yet we’ll not take their proof. 
We’ll look up the matters for ourselves. I say 
we. Miss Alden, because I intend taking the 
matter in my own hand. I intend seeing to it 
that Miss Debby Alden does not hand over her 
portion to the first person who comes and asks 
for it.” 

Miss Debby gasped in surprise, yet she ex- 
perienced a feeling of relief. She was glad 
that her attorney had taken matters into his 
own hands. His words had given her a new 
view of the matter. For the first time a doubt 
as to the reliability of the claim made against 
her came to her mind. The attorney, who read 
people well, understood what Debby ’s expres- 
sion meant. He was honest. He had known 
the Alden family all his life and he had a high 
regard for Miss Debby. More than this, he 
did not like to see a trickster win. He would 
have taken the case for that reason if for no 
other. 

“I have no intention of giving these papers 


94 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


into your hands, Miss Debby,” be continued. 
‘‘I appreciate tbeir value better than you. I 
shall send a note to Conrad and Westerleigb 
informing them that the matter has been placed 
in my bands and that any further communica- 
tion must be made through me. Then, Miss 
Debby, if they bring up the question, refer 
them to me. Don’t discuss the subject with 
them. They might be sharp enough to hold you 
on some of your own words.” 

“I wish to do what is honest. If this woman 
is Ezra’s widow — ” 

“If she is, she will have all that is her due. 
We will deal fairly and aboveboard. Miss 
Debby. I think I have dealt no other way with 
you or any one else, either friend or enemy. 

“This woman may trouble you again as she 
did your little girl several days ago. It is not 
to be put up with. I shall inform her lawyers 
that there must be no trespassing. If the 
woman asks your permission, refer her to me. 
Never allow her to gain a foothold there under 
the plea that you were willing.” 

That was the end of the interview. A great 
sense of relief came to Debby Alden as she 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


95 


made her way home. She was rid of the re- 
sponsibility. She knew that Mr. Hendig would 
be perfectly just and honorable. She did not 
believe, however, that the woman was not hon- 
est in her claims. Debby could not conceive of 
a mind that could plan and carry out such a 
scheme of deception and trickery. Because 
she could not conceive of it, she believed it im- 
possible. 

The Alden characteristic asserted itself now. 
She had done all that lay in her power. She 
could do nothing more at present. So she dis- 
missed that phase of the case from her mind. 
She began to plan for the future in case her 
income would be cut in half. She did not 
worry. On the contrary she was quite hopeful 
and her plans were not a little after the order 
of an air-castle. 

“I’ll get through,” she said to herself. “I 
never knew an Alden to get ‘stuck’ yet.” This 
was half her battle, faith in herself and the 
traditions of her people. 

Hester was absent-minded as she performed 
the duties about the house. She had tried to 
keep her wits about her and have the dinner 


96 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


ready when Debby came borne. Debby bad 
attended to tbe roast berself and bad planned 
to be borne early, but when tbe noon bour drew 
near, Hester decided to attend to matters ber- 
self. 

Jane Orr bad come in at eleven o’clock. 

“Auntie said I should not bother with din- 
ner, but she’s been detained longer than she 
expected. I think I’ll finish dinner.” 

“Do,” exclaimed Jane. “I’ll help. I’m a 
fine cook — in theory. There’s nothing I love 
so much as fussing around in tbe kitchen with 
pots and pans.” 

“Don’t you ever do it at home?” asked Hes- 
ter. 

“No, it causes too much fuss. Mother’s per- 
fectly williug. Indeed she wishes me to know 
bow to cook, but Morgan is tbe bead of tbe 
kitchen and will not let me stick my nose in.” 
Jane paused. Her dimpled, laughing face took 
on a sober look. “I did make fudge last win- 
ter several times, but I bad to wait until Mor- 
gan and Sadie went otf to some party. Then 
I bad things my own way, and I sailed around 
that kitchen like a queen.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 97 


“I never knew queens sailed around kitch- 
ens,” said Hester. 

“The more pity for them if they don’t,” said 
Jane. “Come, let us finish. I think I know 
how to make gravy.” She hurried to the 
kitchen and Hester followed. 

“At least I can pare potatoes,” she said, and 
fell upon a pan of them. She was beaming 
with delight. She made the paring-knife move 
quickly. She had the air of elevation which 
comes to one when she is accomplishing the 
thing upon which she has set her heart. 

“Your parings are rather thick,” said Hes- 
ter. “Aunt Debby taught me to pare them 
thin — just as thin as possible. A great deal is 
wasted otherwise.” 

“That is so,” exclaimed Jane. “I never 
thought of that. How nice it is to be taught 
things. You must know a lot about cooking 
and housekeeping, Hester.” 

“I’m not so bad at it.” By comparison with 
Jane, Hester felt that she knew all that was to 
be known in the line of domestic science. 
“Helen Loraine intends to visit me sometime 
this summer. She and I will do all the cook- 


98 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


ing. It will be a mere pastime for us. You’d 
dearly love Helen, Jane. You just couldn’t 
belp it even though you might try.” 

“I know I’d love her. You and I always 
did like the same people, Hester. You know 
you’ve always told me that our Ealph was the 
very nicest boy you — ” 

“That was before I met Eob Vail,” inter- 
posed. Hester. “Eob is the very — ” She 
paused in time. Jane’s eyes were growing 
suspiciously brilliant, and a little touch of red 
was in her cheek. “Your Ealph and Eob Vail 
are the very nicest boys I ever saw. I don’t 
see how they could be nicer.” 

“It’s a good thing you said it that way, Hes- 
ter. I couldn’t possibly put up with any one 
being nicer than Ealph. I’m quite prepared to 
love Helen.” 

“You’ll simply adore her, and she will you. 
Did I tell you that she looks so much like me 
that people were always mistaking us?” But 
Jane lost this last remark. 

Having finished the potatoes, she was deep 
in the kettle closet in search of a suitable vessel 
to cook them in. She emerged at last with a 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 99 


kettle in hand. ‘‘This is what I call living,” 
she cried, as she moved about putting the pota- 
toes on the stove. “Cook what you please and 
no servants to teU you to keep away from the 
kitchen. Why, Hester, you and your Aunt 
Debby can come in here just when you please 
and make cake or fudge or whatever you want 
w:ithout asking any one. It must seem like 
heaven to you.” 

Hester had never thought of the matter in 
that light. On the contrary, she had believed 
Jane’s lot to be enviable. Hester herself had 
rather coveted a cook and maid and laundry 
woman. She expressed herself so now. 

“That’s just because you don’t know, Hessie. 
I’m really honest when I say that it seems like 
heaven to be pottering about in a lovely kitchen 
like this.” Her eyes went about the room 
from the dainty sash curtains to the chair and 
footstool by the window and the big gray cat 
lying in the streak of sunlight which came 
through the open door. 

In spite of Jane’s flow of conversation, Hes- 
ter’s thoughts wandered toward Aunt Debby ’s 
troubles and the position that Hester intended 


100 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


looking up for herself. She lived her dreams 
of the day before and saw herself advanced 
from newspaper work to the rank of novel- 
ist. 

“I’ll make the coffee,” she said in the midst 
of her day-dreaming. “Aunt Debby is very 
particular about her coffee. It must be just 
so.” She set the coffee-pot on the back of the 
stove. The water in the kettle was bubbling. 
Hester turned aside to measure out the coffee. 

“I wish you’d attend to this,” Jane thrust 
a bowl of flour and water in her hand. “It 
doesn’t look just right. The flour is in lumps 
and I know it shouldn’t be that way. I don’t 
know what made it do it. It just lumped up 
all of itself. I didn’t do a thing.” 

Hester took it from her hand. “I’ll mix it 
smooth.” She rubbed the lumps against the 
side of the bowl with a wooden spoon until the 
mixture was smooth. All the while, her 
■thoughts were wool-gathering, and she did not 
do just as she intended. 

However, diimer was ready when Aunt 
Bebby returned. Jane met her at the door 
and escorted her in. “Everything’s fine. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 101 


Miss Debby. Dinner is ready to be served. 
Eoast beef, mashed potatoes, fine dressing, and 
coffee that will make your mouth water just to 
smell. Hester and I prepared it.” 

“I shall do it justice. Brown gravy with 
mashed potatoes is not to be despised. I’ve 
never been strong enough to resist a good cup 
of coffee with cream.” 

“Almost thick enough to cut. We skimmed 
the cream crock.” 

In honor of the event, Jane had gotten down 
the green decorated china. She had festooned 
the table with a fine green creeping vine and 
had a low bowl of fiowers in the center. 

“Don’t you think it looks nice. Miss Debby?” 
she exclaimed. “The roast is so nice and 
brown. Just the way I like it.” 

Miss Debby served the plates. When she 
had cut the meat in appetizing slices and put 
on the plate a portion of the vegetables, she 
looked about her. “Tour gravy, Hester. 
Have you forgotten to bring it in?” 

A bewildered expression came to Hester’s 
face. She excused herself and went to the 
kitchen. No gravy was in sight. She ex- 


102 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAKNING 


amined the pan in which the meat had roasted. 
There was not a trace of nice brown gravy 
there. 

‘ ‘ Did you do anything with my gravy, J ane ? ’ ’ 

This question brought Jane into the kitchen. 
She looked about everywhere; but not a trace 
of the gravy could be seen. As a last resort, 
she examined the pan. “It doesn’t look as 
though any nice brown gravy was in there,” 
she said. 

“Are you sure you made it, Hester?” 

“Sure? Don’t you remember that you 
mixed the flour and water and handed it to me? 
There’s the bowl that had it in. I must have 
made it.” 

There was another search, but no gravy was 
anywhere to be found. 

“Let us say it has disappeared by some 
means unknown,” suggested Jane. “It’s un- 
explainable. Let us go back to dinner.” 

They did so. “It’s too bad,” said Miss 
Debby, “after you had taken so much trouble. 
It may have gone up the chimney.” 

“The cat did have a knowing expression in 
the corner of her eye,” said Jane. “Let’s 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 103 


blame it on the cat. Every bouse must have 
something to put the blame on. At our house, 
we put the blame on the dog.’’ 

‘‘Since you can have no gravy, I shall break 
over an old tule and give you both coffee,” said 
Miss Debby. “I have never permitted Hester 
to touch it except on very rare occasions. I 
think this comes under the head of rare occa- 
sions. I never knew gravy to disappear as this 
has. I think it might be called a very rare oc- 
casion.” 

Miss Debby poured thick cream into the 
three cups, took up her coffee-pot and poured 
a spoonful out. Then she stopped and looked 
bewildered. 

“The coffee has been bewitched, too,” she 
said. “I never knew coffee to pour like this.” 
She raised the lid and peered iuto the um. 
Then she poured out a little into a cup and 
examined it. 

As she did so, the light of understanding 
came to Hester and Jane. 

“The gravy — ” cried Jane. “I handed it 
to you while you were making the coffee.” 

“I was thinking of something else — I put the 


104 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


flour and water into the coffee-pot,” cried Hes- 
ter. 

Then they laughed. Jane’s dimples came 
and went. Her eyes overflowed with laughter. 
She made a vain attempt to maintain a proper 
decorum and to eat her meal as became a well- 
bred guest; but whenever her eyes fell upon 
Hester, or upon the coffee um, the humor of 
the occasion seized her and she burst into a fit 
of laughter. In spite of the humiliation, Hes- 
ter joined her. 

“I’m glad it happened,” said Jane when she 
was able to control her voice. “It’s more fun 
than gravy. I must tell our cook a new way 
to make coffee; a tablespoonful of flour to a 
quart of boiling water. Serve from the coffee- 
pot and no one will know the difference.” 

“It’s just as well to take troubles philo- 
sophically,” said Debby Alden. “Had we in- 
dulged freely in coffee and made use of the 
cream, there would have been no dessert. As 
it is, we may have it with our tapioca pudding.” 

“I did not know you had made pudding,” 
said Hester, when Miss Debby brought forth 
the dessert. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 105 


“It is well you did not, you and Jane might 
have tried to cook it with the potatoes.” She 
smiled at the girls as she gave them generously 
of the thick rich cream. 

“I shall help with the dishes,” said Jane. 
“You sit in the living-room. Miss Dehby, and 
take life easy while Hester and I finish the 
work.” 

Miss Dehby did as she was requested. She 
heard Jane shriek with laughter while she was 
trying to get the sticky, starchy mass from the 
coffee-pot. 

“Aunt Dehby, I have an errand in town,” 
said Hester. “I’ll walk in with Jane.” 

“The sun is very hot, Hessie. Why did you 
not tell me? I would have performed any little 
commission for you while I was there this 
morning.” 

“You couldn’t have done this. Aunt Dehby. 
This is one of the things I must do for myself. 
It’s a secret.” 

“I think she intends writing a cook book,” 
said Jane. “She’ll call it ‘Hester Alden’s 
Practical Eecipes’ — ^no home should be without 
it. You may put me down for a copy, Hester. 


106 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


I know it will be very funny. I’ll put it in the 
library among the ‘Wit and Humor’ books.” 

Hester pretended not to hear. She had 
turned her back upon Jane and was adjusting 
her hat before the mirror. Jane’s remark 
about writing a book had come so near the 
truth that a flush spread over Hester’s cheeks. 

The mistake with the coffee had not taught 
Hester all it should. She was building air- 
castles while she and Jane went through the 
orchard and down the ravine and over the 
brook. 

When they came to Jane’s home, that young 
lady paused at the gate and said, “Hester, I 
shouldn’t mind walking into town. I’d really 
rather like it. If you do not object. I’ll speak 
to mother, and I’ll go with you. I’ll take my 
purse with me. We’ll get some ice-cream 
sodas or candy.” The last was generally 
tacked to any and all of Jane’s errands into 
the business portion of the town. She had a 
sweet tooth abnormally developed. She was 
about to hurry away into the house to get her 
purse when Hester stopped her. 

“This isn’t just an ordinary errand, Jane,” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 107 


she said. “If it was, I would have asked you 
to come along. It’s business and very im- 
portant business at that. I’ve told no one 
about it — ^not even Aunt Debby. So you un- 
derstand — ” 

“Yes, you’d rather be alone. I understand. 
Sometimes it is like that. Of course, you can- 
not attend to business with me with you. 
We’ll go together some other time, Hester. 
I’m just dying to have you taste Lawson’s new 
cream and sundaes. They’re a dream — simply 
a dream.” She turned in at her home. 

“Good-by, Hester, and good luck in your 
business.” 

Hester smiled complacently at the well 
wishes. 

“Good luck,” surely, she would have good 
luck. She bad always beard that good re- 
porters were scarce. No doubt the newspapers 
would be only too glad to avail themselves of 
her services, and pay her well for it. She was 
not quite sure what salary newspaper people 
received, but the work was professional and 
consequently would be well paid. Being a be- 
ginner, she would not expect much. She would 


108 HESTER’S WAGE-EAENING 


be quite willing to begin at twenty dollars a 
week, that would mean eighty dollars a month. 
She and Aunt Debby could live quite well on 
that with what they had. 

There were four newspaper offices in town. 
Hester took them in order of arrangement ; the 
nearest one first. This was the Ledger. The 
building was quite imposing with a brown- 
stone front. Notices on the broad stairway 
indicated the various departments. She de- 
cided that the editor rather than the business 
manager was the person she must see; so she 
made her way to the second floor front. Her 
knock was not at all timid. She was so confi- 
dent of success and her own ability that her 
self-consciousness had been absorbed by them. 

Upon the invitation, she entered the room. 
It was not just as she expected. There were 
no handsome rugs and polished floors. The 
windows were actually grimy. At a table sat 
a big fat man in shirt sleeves. His collar and 
tie were unfastened. A pipe was between his 
lips and the air was thick. He was putting the 
blue pencil to good use, working with lightning- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 109 


like rapidity. A boy stood at bis elbow pick- 
ing up “copy” as tbe editor threw it aside. 

“Sit down,” be said, and continued bis 
work. When be bad read a score of sheets 
and tbe boy bad gone away with them, tbe edi- 
tor turned toward Hester without words, but 
with interrogation in bis expression. 

She told her errand. He listened with bis 
fingers fastened on tbe blue pencil and bis eyes 
glancing at tbe papers on tbe desk. When she 
bad finished her statement, be replied shortly. 
“No possible opening. Couldn’t give it to you 
if there were. Never take in a green band. 
Too much trouble to break them in.” 

That was all. He was absorbed in tbe copy 
before him. Hester felt herself dismissed and 
went down tbe stairs. Her discouragement 
bad taken to itself wings before she reached 
tbe street. She would try tbe Tribune next. 
Tbe editor of tbe Ledger bad called her a 
“green band.” Tbe next time she presented 
her case, she would tell them that she bad been 
on tbe staff of tbe Mirror. Tbe appearance 
of tbe Inquirer office was more pleasing. It 


110 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


was clean at least. The editor was not smok- 
ing and his collar and tie were not disairranged. 
He listened to Hester’s statements with a show 
of interest. He expressed his confidence in 
her ability to do the work. His only regret, 
however, was that there was no vacant place 
on the paper to offer her. There might he at 
any time. If she would leave her address, he 
would inform her whenever the Inquirer 
needed her services. 

Hester complied with this request and then 
arose to leave the office. There was a dignity 
and self -poise about the girl which was pleas- 
ing. She had never been brow-beaten or de- 
ceived and so was confident and fearless; yet 
in her confidence was no boldness. She met 
and talked with these strangers as she would 
have talked with Debby Alden or Helen 
Loraiue. 

When she had gone, this gentleman of 
promises rang for the hall usher. When the 
trembling lad appeared, he turned upon him, 
“Where were you, that that young lady was 
permitted to reach this office. I’m always 
busy, you understand. I thought I had made 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 111 


that plain to you. I have no time to listen 
to talk of schoolgirls. See that it does not hap- 
pen again.” 

After leaving the Inquirer office, Hester was 
tempted to go no farther. It might be that this 
paper would have need of her services in a 
short time. It might be wise to go home and 
wait until she was sent for by the editor of 
the Inquirer. But fortunately, she reconsid- 
ered. It might be five or six weeks before 
there would be an opening on that staff. If 
she was not working all that time, it would 
mean an actual loss of almost one hundred 
dollars; that is, at a salary of twenty dollars 
a week and that was the lowest that she would 
accept. 

As if to influence her for a third interview, 
the office of the Daily Record flaunted itself in 
her way. Hester had something of Dehby 
Alden’s “set” ways. She did not like the idea 
of giving up. She would continue the search 
for work. Her need of a position was not evi- 
dent in her appearance. Her face was as 
bright and cheerful as the morning sun. She 
wore a white shirt-waist suit, and a big white 


112 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Milan liat with, a bow of white ribbon and bob- 
bing heads of black-eyed Susans. 

The Record office was not tidy. The floor 
was littered with paper. The managing editor 
had his feet on the desk and “copy” in his 
hands. By his side stood a young man little 
older than Hester herself. He was listening 
attentively to the editor. 

“You fell flat on that Eepublican meeting. 
What was the trouble with you? There was 
meat enough in it for two good columns. See 
that you do better on this. Better do it up 
for two thousand if it will warrant it.” 

The boy nodded and left the office. Hester 
saw him take down his hat from a peg and 
hurry away. He didn’t look altogether cheer- 
ful over the assignment. 

The editor-in-chief lowered his feet to the 
floor before he addressed Hester. He watched 
her keenly while she talked. His eyes peered 
out from beneath bushy eyebrows as though 
he had lowered them in anger. He asked a few 
pertinent questions. Her year at the Semi- 
nary and her having taken charge of the per- 
sonal on the Mirror seemed of some importance 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 113 


to him. He let Hester do the talking while 
he sat with his eyes fixed upon her. When she 
had finished, he turned his head and called out, 
“Blinn, come here.” 

A tall, lank young man came in and seated 
himself on the edge of the table, and looked 
calmly at his chief as though waiting orders. 

Few words appeared to be the order of the 
office. “What did the doctor say about Wil- 
son?” 

“ ’Fraid of typhoid. Couldn’t know for sev- 
eral days. He ’s got to stay out of the office for 
a month anyway and considerable more if it 
turns out to be fever.” 

“Seems to ball us all up. I was short 
enough before. Tell Bateman to take Wilson’s 
assignment. You attend to Bateman’s. Oh, 
yes, the salary goes to the one who does the 
work. This young lady can take the cub’s 
place — until Wilson gets on his feet.” 

Hester’s face flushed. She had not heard 
the word “cub” used in such a way. She did 
not know that it was a term applied to the re- 
porter new to the work, and who began with 
personals. 


114 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


Blinn went Ms way without further word. 
The managing editor turned to Hester. ‘ ‘ Come 
to-morrow morning ready for work. Nine 
o’clock is the hour. We pay a dollar a day.” 

“Seven dollars a week,” said Hester. Her 
castles had tumbled about her head. Perhaps 
not the entire castle, hut at least one wing of it. 
The main building always stood with her. 

“Seven? No, six a week. You don’t work 
on Sunday, you know.” 


CHAPTEE VI 


D EBBY ALDEN was not well-pleased when 
Hester came home with her story. 

“I wish you would have spoken of the matter 
to me first,” she said. She was about to say 
more — to be really severe, but the disappointed 
look on Hester’s face deterred her. 

“I did it to help you. Aunt Debby. You’ll 
not have enough to live on. You told me your- 
self. Six dollars a week is not much, but I’ll 
soon earn more. Will six dollars a week pay 
for what I eat?” she added. 

“Much more,” said Debby. She realized 
that the girl had actually been worrying over 
being a burden when she knew that Debby ’s 
income would be cut in half. “You must re- 
member that all our vegetables and fruit are 
provided for us. It does not take a great deal 
for you and me, Hester.” 

“I thought my salary would be larger,” said 
Hester. “I should not like to think of your 
115 


116 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


worMiig away from home.” She had been 
serious. Now she tried to turn her mood 
aside. She finished gayly, “You took care of 
me for sixteen years, Miss Debby Alden, now, 
it is my turn.” 

“Not for a great many years, Hester Alden. 
Not until I am an old, old lady. Then you may 
wait upon me until your muscles ache.” 

She had meant to speak sharply to Hester 
and to reprimand her for her going off and se- 
curing a position without first securing Debby ’s 
permission or at least advice. Instead of this, 
she took the girl’s face between her palms and 
kissed her on cheeks and lips. 

“Your judgment may lead you into error, 
Hessie, but your heart is in its right place,” 
was all she said. 

No more was said then, but the matter was 
heavy on Debby Alden ’s heart. She did not 
know what course to follow. Her first impulse 
was to forbid Hester’s accepting the position. 
There were other considerations that came to 
her. Debby Alden was learning something of 
the great principles of life — the letting each 
person develop himself along individual lines; 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 117 


the privilege of making the most of himself and 
his talents, and that not by rule set down by 
another. She knew Alex MacMurray, the edi- 
tor, by reputation and had confidence in him. 
Debby considered all the phases of the subject 
after she had retired. It was long after mid- 
night when she had reached a satisfactory con- 
clusion. She would let Hester try the work. 

The following morning Hester was up earlier 
than usual. In spite of the paltry six dollars 
a week, there was an excitement and interest 
about the wage-earning which was worth more 
than the money. She sat at the breakfast- 
table but did not eat. It was not until Debby 
insisted that she made an effort. 

“Not one step shall you go until you eat 
your toast and egg and drink your milk,” said 
Debby, to whom a loss of appetite was a calam- 
ity and presaged all manner of physical dis- 
orders. 

“Take time and eat slowly. You always eat 
an egg for breakfast. I do not see why you 
should not now.” 

Debby looked upon herself as a rigid disci- 
plinarian. She had decided years before that 


118 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


she would be just and firm with Hester. She 
would not spoil her. She had seen quite 
enough of foolish mothers and their ways with 
children. Debby meant to have none of that. 
She would be firm and just, and not yield to 
the child’s caprices or whims. In prospect, 
the course was easy to follow, but she had not 
counted on one element of this self-assumed 
relationship. Hester had wrapped herself 
about Debby Alden’s heartstrings and what 
hurt Hester hurt Debby even more. She would 
have granted every wish the girl expressed had 
not her native judgment asserted itself. 
Fortunately, there had been but few times when 
Hester needed what her aunt was pleased to 
term a “firm hand,” and then Debby had to 
force herself to it. 

This morning Debby was not spoiling the 
girl, but she hovered about her very much as 
a foolishly fond mother would have done. 
When Hester set forth for town, Debby walked 
with her to the gate, gave a parting adjustment 
to her collar, smoothed out her hair ribbons 
and then stood watching her until she was out 
of sight. It was evident from such little at- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 119 


tentions that Debby Alden was not one to spoil 
a child with kindness. 

The young men were not in the office when 
Hester entered, but Miss Maynard, a stenogra- 
pher, was busy at her machine. She was a 
fair-haired slender girl, with the look of one 
who had worked beyond the limit of her 
strength and was tired out. She was doing 
rush work, but she stopped at Hester’s en- 
trance and came forward with outstretched 
hands. 

“You’re Hester Alden,” she said. “I’m 
Helen Maynard. We have seen each other 
often, but never have become acquainted. 
Your desk is there.” She pointed to a table 
near the window. “I put my wraps in the 
closet at the right. I think you’ll find an extra 
hook for yours.” 

Hester had shaken hands and smiled. She 
was at a loss for words. Something within her 
was bubbling over. Speech had left her for 
a time. She looked at her desk with a pile of 
manuscript paper and a box of pencils and a 
notebook. Oh, the glory of it all! To be in 
an office. To have one’s own desk and to write 


120 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


beautiful thoughts which would inspire the 
world. The pen was what molded the opinions 
of the world, and she, Hester Alden, was to 
have a part in this great work. The thought 
of her importance quite overcame her, and she 
sank into her chair. She was so far in the 
clouds that she could look down on the roofs of 
her own air-castles. 

There was a yellow sheet of paper filled with 
hieroglyphics in blue pencil. After her first 
rhapsodies, Hester’s eyes beheld this. She 
took it up to read. It was evidently intended 
for her. ‘‘Party at Henderson’s on North 
Street — 100. Get points on the Country Club 
dinner for this evening — names complete. 
Mrs. John H. Herron for verification — all it’s 
worth.” 

She read it a second time. Miss Maynard 
had returned to her typewriting. She had 
been in the office for a number of years. She 
had seen many a cub-reporter come and either 
go or develop into an all-around newspaper 
man. She read the expression on Hester’s 
face. She left her work again and came to the 
new reporter. Taking up the yellow sheet, she 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 121 

read it over. It was not Greek to her as it had 
been to Hester. 

“Your assignments for this morning,” she 
said simply. 

“But what am I to do with them?” asked 
Hester. “I don’t know the meaning of the 
numbers and the verification and ‘all it’s 
worth.’ ” 

Miss Maynard took up the paper and ex- 
plained as she read. “You’re to go to Hen- 
derson’s on North Street and get the particu- 
lars of a party which they had. You’re to 
write one hundred words on it ; hut before you 
come back to write it, take a car out to the Coun- 
try Club and ask for Mrs. Herron. She will 
give you the particulars of the dinner which she 
is to give to-night. She’ll want to. She’ll wel- 
come you with open arms. There is nothing 
she likes better than seeing her name in the 
paper. That’s her principal reason for giving 
parties. If she isn’t there, some one will tell 
you where to find her. You may have to take 
a car back and go out to her home. Names 
complete — that means that you must have the 
full name of every guest — just as they have it 


122 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


on their cards. All it’s worth — ^get every par- 
ticular, decorations, caterer, and courses, and 
write it out in full. The personals you can 
pick up as you go along. You’ll be surprised 
at how much you can pick up when you’re on 
the news scent.” 

Miss Maynard moved away. Hester had 
barely time to thank her. The young men 
came into the office. Some had work all ready 
to write up. Others looked over their assign- 
ments. 

Bateman whistled, took a chair, hoisted his 
feet to the top of his desk and opened a maga- 
zine. 

“Easy,” said the man that the editor had 
called Blinn. 

“Until ten-thirty. Howard is to come in on 
the express with a crowd of henchmen. I’m to 
be among those present. Funny Mac assigned 
me. He said I fell flat on the last report.” 

“I heard them calling you down. Well, you 
needn’t get sore about it. Every man gets 
his call. I got it in the neck yesterday.” 

“I wish Mac had done it himself,” said Bate- 
man. “There wasn’t a thing said that was 


HESTEB’S WAGE-EABNING 123 


worth writing up. He gave nae two columns 
and there wasn’t meat enough to cover a good 
headline. "What can a fellow do when there 
isn’t a thing said worth reporting.” 

“Use your imagination, my son. Use your 
imagination,” said Blinn. He took up his hat, 
looked at his watch and grabbing a pad and 
pencil hurried away, calling hack over his 
shoulder, “Farewell, my own true love, light 
of my life, farewell.” 

No one except Miss Maynard had addressed 
Hester. She wondered if they had seen her. 
Their slang expressions were new to her. She 
detested the smell of tobacco. She was draw- 
ing into her shell and was about to put on a 
little haughty air which came to her when mat- 
ters did not please her. She reconsidered in 
time. She remembered that she was now but 
one of many, and not the only one, as she was 
with Aunt Debby. 

“I think I would start out on my assign- 
ments,” said Miss Maynard, without taking her 
eyes from her notes. 

“Thank you,” said Hester. “I did not 
know just what to do, where to go.” 


124 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


She found the Henderson home on North 
Street. To her delight, Marie, the daughter, 
had been one of her schoolfellows in the High 
School. She and Hester were delighted to see 
each other. There was no difficulty to get 
news here. Marie gave all the details of the 
party. One could have written several col- 
umns on the information which she gave. She 
was delighted to hear that Hester was a liter- 
ary woman. She did not use the word “re- 
porter.” Hester liked her better because of 
that. 

“I would dearly love to be a literary 
woman,” said Marie. “I always thought 
you’d be one. You always had such good es- 
says in the High School. I used to sit and won- 
der how you came to think of all the things you 
wrote. How could you think of them?” 

“They thought themselves,” said Hester. 
“One day I would not know anything about 
them, and then all of a sudden they’d pop into 
my head and just make me write them.” 

“That’s just genius,” said Marie in whole- 
souled admiration. “I would dearly love to 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 125 


be a literary woman. I couldn’t though. I’m 
not naturally brainy like you.” 

She came to the door with Hester, and in- 
vited her to come again. “If I had known that 
you were a reporter, I would have certainly 
invited you to my party last evening,” were 
her parting words. 

Hester went her way delighted with herself 
and the world. She had not known that Marie 
Henderson was such an agreeable little crea- 
ture. Marie had not been quick about books. 
Indeed, Hester remembered now that the teach- 
ers had considered her dull. “But we cannot 
all be brilliant,” said Hester to herself as she 
went her way. 

It was wonderful how much one could hear 
when her ear is open for news. On the way to 
take the trolley, Hester met Edith Eank who 
was on her way to the station. Edith had 
graduated at the High School the spring before. 

“Marne Welch is going away and I promised 
to see her before she goes. She’s going to 
Illinois to spend the summer. Her Aunt Alice 
is going with her.” 


126 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 

There were a few words more. Then Edith 
continued. 

“I planned to go to see you when you came 
home, but Grandma Rank has been ill for sev- 
eral weeks and mother went to be with her. 
I’ve had charge of the house; but father takes 
his vacation to-morrow and we’ll set off at 
once for the farm. We’re going to remain a 
month.” 

Then Edith made her farewells and went her 
way, leaving three crisp personals in Hester’s 
possession. Not wishing to trust to her mem- 
ory Hester jotted down her notes. She was 
just in time, for the car was turning the cor- 
ner. 

Mrs. Herron was at the Country Club. Hes- 
ter found her busied with decorators and 
caterers. Mrs. Herron had her own ideas as 
to the arrangement of draperies and flowers. 
Whether her taste was garish and crude was a 
disputed point; but the florist was always in 
despair when he tried to work with her. If 
he had dared, he would have refused her order. 

She was big and handsome. Her clothes 
were very tight and her hair very extreme in 


HESTER’S WAGE-EAENING 127 


style. She had plenty of money, whose pos- 
session had been but the matter of a few years, 
and she was taking great pleasure in spending 
it freely. Though she rejoiced in her wealth, 
its possession had not made a cad of her. Her 
sympathy was quite in proportion to her purse ; 
and her heart, to her physique. When she 
learned that Hester had come from the Record, 
she took her into a side room and gave her a 
list of names to copy. When this was done, 
she took her from reception hall to dining- 
room and drew her attention to any part of 
the decoration which might be called unique 
and original. She was good material to work 
with. She had been interviewed before and 
knew what would make a good article. When 
the rounds of the rooms had been made, she 
led Hester to an alcove. 

“You’re tired out. I noticed the instant you 
came in that you were excited. The work is 
new to you? Well, do not make the mistake 
that all beginners do and feel that you must be 
everywhere and do everything in a few minutes. 
Sit there and rest and get cool. I’ll have one of 
the men bring you a glass of iced tea.” 


128 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


If all interviewing were like this, Hester de- 
cided it would be the most delightful work in 
the world. She did not like to call it work. 
It seemed more a pastime ; first, that delightful 
call on Marie, and then this. 

She was quite satisfied with herself and the 
world and newspaper work — except the six 
dollars per week. That did not vex her as 
much as it might have some girls. She in- 
tended to have that increased very soon. No 
doubt when Mr. MacMurray saw how well she 
did the work, he would triple her salary. 

It was almost twelve o’clock when she 
reached the office. Bateman was absent. 
Blinn sat at his machine thumping away at a 
rapid rate, with his eyes on his notes and a 
pipe between his lips. 

Hester spread out her notes and was about 
to begin her report when Blinn saw her. He 
removed his pipe. “It’s almost twelve; I 
wouldn’t start that now. Do like the rest, 
‘Drei und zwanzig — geh.’ ” 

“What is that?” asked Hester. “I didn’t 
understand.” 

“Twenty-three — get. That’s what it is in 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 129 


unvarnislied English. Being literary people, 
we eschew the common vernacular called slang. 
When we must express ourselves in that way, 
we take to a foreign tongue. Go home, feed, 
and return rested.” 

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Blinn. I presumed that 
I was expected to hand in the report before I 
went home.” 

“Nixy — press doesn’t close until three. Let 
me give you some good newspaper advice. 
Don’t presume anything, and don’t do a 
single thing that the chief doesn’t tell you to. 
I’ve been on newspapers for twenty-three 
years, and I know a thing or two.” 

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Blinn,” said Hester. 
She did not know whether to take him seriously. 
She concluded, however, that she would go 
home for dinner. She would have plenty of 
time to write her article when she came hack. 
The account of Mrs. Herron’s dinner would be 
held back until the issue of the next day. Hes- 
ter was a little suspicious that this Mr. Blinn 
was something of a wag. He had been so re- 
spectful, so deferential, when she had seen 
the chief talking to him the previous day. He 


130 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


could use the typewriter. She was sure of 
that, for his fingers were moving so fast over 
the keys that they were scarcely distinguisha- 
ble. 

The road home was longer than usual that 
day. So it seemed to Hester ; yet she walked 
it in less time than ever before. Her feet 
fairly flew. She wished to tell Debby Alden 
all that had happened during the morning. 

Dinner was ready. Debby would not let 
Hester tell her tale until she was at the table. 
It took no mind-reader to know that the girl 
was excited, fairly bubbling over with enthusi- 
asm. 

“It isn’t at all unpleasant. Aunt Debby. 
You know the newspaper stories we read about 
how reporters were treated. They are all 
just stories. Nothing could be lovelier than 
calling on people and having them tell you 
about their parties.” 

“Eemember, Hester Alden has had but a 
half-day ’s experience. ’ ’ 

“It has begun well. I was surprised at 
Marie Henderson. I never knew her very well 
at school. She never went with our set. This 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 131 


morning slie was lovely and said slie wotild 
dearly love to do literary work, but sbe didn’t 
think she could for she wasn’t so bright as I.” 

“Remember the grain of salt, Hester. We 
need it to digest some people’s flowery 
speeches.” 

“It wasn’t mere flattery. Aunt Debby. 
Marie was dull in school. All the girls knew 
it and the teachers, too. She’s improved. I 
suppose she’s nicer because she’s older,” said 
Hester in good faith. 

While their conversation was being carried 
on, Marie Henderson was confiding to her 
dearest friend, “Hester Alden was here this 
morning. She used to be really nice — unpre- 
tentious and plain you know; but she’s been 
away to school and now is doing literary work. 
She’s so conceited and unbearable. She was 
just bubbling over with her own importance.” 

“Working on the Record!*’ exclaimed Ma- 
rie’s bosom friend. “What is she working 
for? Does she have to work?” 

That view of the case had not presented it- 
self to Marie. Like many another person, 
young and old, she gave forth her own impres- 


132 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


sions as substantiated statements. “I suppose 
sbe does. You know, of course, that sbe is not 
Miss Debby Alden’s niece at all, but just a beg- 
gar child that Miss Debby felt sorry for and 
took care of. I suppose Miss Debby thinks she 
has done her duty and that Hester is old enough 
to take care of herself.” 

The girl had not heard the story of Hester 
Alden’s life. She listened eagerly while Marie 
related the story as she had heard it, which 
was far from the correct one. It seemed as 
though it could never be forgotten. There was 
always some one who was eager to bear it to the 
ears of those who had not heard. 

Hester was happy in knowing nothing about 
this. She told Miss Debby all that had taken 
place during the morning. Then it was time to 
return to the office. The hot, unshaded road 
and streets were not pleasant in the midday 
sun. Hester, for the first time, fully appre- 
ciated the great cool living-room shaded by the 
outspreading branches of chestnut and beech. 

Both Mr. Blinn and Mr. Bateman were busy 
at work when Hester entered the office. The 
door of the private room stood open and she 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 133 


caught a glimpse of the editor-in-chief with a 
heap of papers before him. 

Hester took her place and began work. 
Marie Henderson had told her a great deal 
about the party. One hundred words seemed 
so little. Hester labored under the impression 
that managing editors wished as much as they 
could get. If one hundred words would be 
good, five hundred would be five times better. 

She wrote rapidly. Her mind was quick and 
for a girl of her age, her vocabulary was excel- 
lent. There were several hundred words when 
she had finished. She took the paper into the 
editor’s room and laid it on his desk and came 
back without a word. She had seen the men do 
this. It seemed to be the custom of the office. 

Then she began on the personals. She was 
quite confident about this line of work, for she 
had written most of the personals for the Mir- 
ror and the managing editor had said she had 
done well. Hester was a generous-minded girl 
who liked to write kind things. She could not 
have been critical with her pen had she tried. 

Her first personal read, “Miss Edith Rank, 
the beautiful and accomplished daughter of 


134 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Dr. Alfred Eank, will leave to-day for an ex- 
tended visit to their delightful country home 
at Ardmore.” 

“Miss Alice Jennings, the popular leader of 
the younger set, to the delight of her friends, 
has returned from Ocean Beach.” 

She had progressed so far when the manag- 
ing editor came from his office and directly to 
her desk. 

“How many words were written up for that 
party out on North Street?” he asked. His 
eyes glowered at her from beneath his bushy 
brows. 

“One hundred,” said Hester. Her voice 
did not falter. She had never been afraid of 
any one in her life and had no thought of being. 

“Then make it one hundred. You’ve five 
times that amount here now.” He threw the 
papers on her desk and went back to his work. 

Hester’s face flushed and her eyes filled with 
tears. She looked up quickly to see if the others 
had heard and were pitying her. But they were 
absorbed in work and were paying no attention 
to her. 

She had in all fifteen personals. On these 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 135 


she put her best efforts, using the best chosen 
adjectives and having rhetorical sentences that 
were quite imposing. When she had finished 
these, she laid them aside until she had cut the 
account of the party to the required length. 
She learned one thing by doing this ; it is easier 
to write a short article than to cut a long one 
until it is short. Her making the account right 
caused her more thought and y^’ork than the 
first writing had done. 

It was half -past two when she had finished. 
She had seen the boy from the press room come 
again and again for “copy.” She had yet to 
learn that one slow person may keep an entire 
pressroom waiting. 

She took her papers into the inner ofl&ce and 
returned. There was nothing to do but the ac- 
count of the dinner to be given by Mrs. Her- 
ron. She could not begin that at once for her 
fingers were cramped. She had written contin- 
uously for almost two hours. It was a long 
time to her, for her previous efforts had been 
interrupted every few minutes. She took up 
a magazine and looked it over. In a few 
minutes the chief came out and handed papers 


136 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


to Miss Maynard with a few words of explana- 
tion. She nodded, took his papers, removed 
her own from the machine and began work on 
what the chief had given her. The man him- 
self went back to his work, saying as he passed 
Hester’s desk, “Miss Maynard will explain that 
stuff.” 

After Miss Maynard had finished her copy, 
she called Hester to her. There lay Hester’s 
personals. Miss Maynard had retouched them. 

“You never use adjectives in that kind of 
work. A news item is merely a statement — 
nothing more. The shorter and crisper it is, 
the better. Look over what you have written 
and compare them with mine. To-morrow 
you’ll be able to write them as Mr. MacMurray 
wishes them.” 

She was kind and gracious about the correc- 
tion, but nevertheless Hester’s spirit went down 
below zero in her emotional thermometer. But 
she had determination. She would not give up, 
and she would profit by the corrections. 

Miss Maynard spoke again as Hester moved 
away from her desk. “This is nothing new. 
Every new reporter must be taught the same 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 137 


thing. You must not feel that you are the only 
one. We have all gone through with it.” 

Hester smiled back at her. “Thank you, 
Miss Maynard. No one could be kinder about 
it than you have been. I’ll remember about the 
adjectives when I write to-morrow.” 

Hester examined her corrected copy. It was 
a mere statement. “Miss Alice Jennings has 
returned from Ocean Beach. Miss Edith Eank 
leaves to-day for Ardmore, where she will re- 
main for the summer.” 

There was nothing beautiful and accom- 
plished about it. It was plain, unvarnished, 
after the manner of newspaper offices. 


CHAPTEE VII 


nnHE attorneys, Hintner and Hendig, began 
work at once upon the claim against the 
Alden estate. They had communicated with 
Conrad and Westerleigh and had had a view 
of the papers presented. Hintner and Hendig 
were not tricksters, but long years of experience 
with many who were had opened their mind’s 
eye to all possibilities of underhand games. 

They examined the marriage certificate, took 
the name of the town, date, witness, and the 
justice of the peace. They held off any settle- 
ment until they had their side of the case ready 
to present. The marriage had taken place in 
one of the southwestern territories, just previ- 
ous to its admission as a State. The name of 
the bride was on the certificate as Alice Harps- 
ter, and the town was Silver City. The name, 
“city,” however, was a suggestion of a hope 
that it might be that. It was then, and still 
continued to be, a mining town of only a few 
138 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 139 


lumdred people. In the earlier history, this 
region had given good prospect of being the 
richest silver section in the world. Miners had 
come by the hundreds. It was supposed that 
this influx had borne with it Ezra Alden, who 
had grown weary of the monotony of ranch life 
in Texas. 

The band of speculators came and went. 
Only a few found soil worth working. Ezra 
Alden had remained for some time. Just how 
long, it was impossible to discover from those 
who knew. His widow and daughter, acting 
under the advice of their attorneys, had noth- 
ing to say on the subject, except to refer to 
Conrad and Westerleigh any curious-minded 
persons who asked for information. 

Hintner and Hendig began a correspondence 
with people in Silver City. After several weeks 
the unsatisfactory report came back that there 
had been a William Stokes, Justice of the Peace, 
but he had died ten years before. He had had 
no family and no one knew whether he kept any 
records. The county records could give no 
information, for there had been no marriage 
license law, and no record of marriages; for. 


140 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


during those years previous to its admission as 
a State, the population had been a moving one, 
and permitted of no stability of law. There 
had been a family of Harpsters there. A num- 
ber of people in Silver City had remembered 
them. Old man Harpster had come there with 
his wife and several small children. He had 
been killed in a riot. His widow had then 
opened a boarding-house and earned a living 
for herself and children. She had been dead 
some years. The eldest daughter had married. 
No one in Silver City could remember the man’s 
name; a tall, fine-looking person who might 
have passed as a professional man. He was 
not a miner. That had been many years be- 
fore. No one could remember the particulars. 

The Silver City cemetery had a grave 
marked with the name of Ezra Alden. Only 
one or two of the oldest characters of the set- 
tlement could remember him. The writer had 
heard that he had boarded with the “Widow 
Harpster” and died there. He had left a little 
piece of land which he believed had silver in it. 
This he had left to the widow in payment of the 
care she had given him. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 141 


That was all the letter contained. There was 
enough in it, however, to justify the attorneys 
in proceeding further. They could easily see 
how this “Mrs, Ezra Alden” might have se- 
cured the letters and the pictures of Dehhy Al- 
den. They were so confident that their client 
was the victim of a scheme, that Horace Hint- 
ner, the senior member of the firm, decided to 
go to Silver City at once and investigate. 

Miss Dehhy was called in to hear the plan. 

“It promises very well,” she said, “but I am 
afraid your expenses and your fee will be worth 
more than Ezra’s half.” 

“As you look at it, it might,” he said. He 
wondered if she were ignorant of the talk in 
the village. He himself had been studying the 
State geologist’s report and knew that there 
was something more than mere talk in this. 
He remembered then that Debby Alden had 
been away for more than a year. Perhaps she 
did not know. He would not tell her, then, 
while the matter was yet in an unsettled state. 
He laughed at her uneasiness. 

“Do not allow the money matter to trouble 
your economical soul. Miss Debby. I’m will- 


142 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


ing to take my fee and expenses out in bricks — 
bricks without straw, too.” 

Miss Debby thought his expression peculiar 
— ^nothing more. She did not suspect the truth 
which lay, like the bricks, under the surface. 

Horace Hintner was thorough in investiga- 
tion. He did not follow out one line blindly 
and exclude all other suggestions. He had 
heard Miss Debby ’s story in detail. He had 
ferretted out what he could from Conrad and 
Westerleigh. He had visited the hotel register 
to see from what place this plaintiff and her 
daughter had registered. 

“I wish I might talk with your niece,” he said 
at last. “She was at home, you tell me, when 
these people called.” 

“Hester knows nothing. She does not un- 
derstand people. You must remember that she 
is only a child. You’ll find nothing from her 
except what I have already told you,” said Miss 
Debby. 

“Perhaps not, yet I would like to talk with 
her. Will you ask her to come in for a few 
moments on her way from the Record office ? Do 
not tell her why I wish her. If I can get 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 143 


her to tell me the story unconsciously, I may 
find something which has escaped even your 
keen eye, Miss Alden.” 

“I do not doubt it,” she said. “I confess I 
am dull about many matters. I like to take peo- 
ple for what they appear to be.” 

She arose to leave. As she came to the door, 
she paused and turned to her legal adviser. 
“Ezra, they tell me, has been dead fifteen years. 
Why then did this woman wait so long to make 
herself known? She had the letters and my 
address all that time. I cannot understand 
why she did not write me of his death and why 
she did not let me know that I had a niece who 
bore my own name. I cannot understand why 
she waited until this time.” 

“She says the letters were mislaid for years. 
She could not find them. That may be as it is. 
I do not say that she is telling what is not true, 
but I do know that the present time was pro- 
pitious. The tale of the bricks again. Miss 
Debby.” He smiled at her look of bewilder- 
ment. “You do not understand me. I am not 
using classical allusions, I assure you. My 
language is the business vernacular of the 


144 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


twentieth century and pertinent to the case in 
hand. I will explain when the time is ripe for 
explanation. Meanwhile, you will send Hester 
to see me, Miss Aldenf ” 

He held open the door and bowed her out. 
Even a busy man had time for courtesies for 
Miss Alden. There was that in her bearing, 
strong in spite of its being unconscious, which 
made courtesy her due, and none refused to pay 
it to her. 

It was not the financial side of the question 
alone which touched Debby Alden. Family 
meant much to her. The ties of blood were 
more to her than name. She had scarcely 
known this elder brother of hers, yet because 
he was an Alden, her heart was tender toward 
him. She loved him because the same blood 
was in their veins and they bore the same name. 
She had an inherited respect for family ties. 
Kin meant much to her. She would have wel- 
comed Ezra’s wife and daughter with open 
arms, had she been quite sure of them. It was 
not the lack of outward proof which held her 
aloof. She had met and talked with the girl, 
Deborah. Debby Alden had seen in her no 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 145 


trace of the Aldens. Debby’s heart bad not 
warmed to her as it would have warmed to one 
of her own kin. 

“I have a feeling that she is not our own,” 
Debby told herself again and again. “I know 
my heart would have warmed to her had she 
been Ezra’s daughter; but I didn’t have that 
feeling at all.”' 

These were the things — more than the money 
— ^which troubled Debby’s heart. She knew 
that Ezra was dead and she was the last of the 
Palmer- Alden family. The Alden name would 
soon be but a memory in the valley which their 
ancestors had settled. Debby Alden with her 
traditions and training looked upon this as a 
calamity — a family name to become extinct — a 
memory, when it should be a living force. 

Miss Debby told Hester of the request Mr. 
Hintner had made. The same afternoon after 
her work at the Record office was finished, Hes- 
ter stopped in at the office of the attorney. She 
had been working now for two weeks in the 
newspaper office. She had been taught a great 
deal in those few days and had experiences 
which were really worth while. Not the least 


146 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


of these was that muscles become very tired 
and that sitting at a desk and writing for sev- 
eral hours at a time is not quite as easy as it 
looks. For the first time in her life, Hester 
had learned what it is to be “fagged’’ in body 
and mind. She had not realized what the term 
meant, although she had heard it innumerable 
times. While in the High School, she had heard 
Miss Warde declare herself “fagged” and now 
and then the Hall teachers at the Seminary had 
expressed themselves so. 

“I’m sorry for them if they were compelled 
to work after they felt like this,” said Hester 
to herself as she mounted the stairs. This 
being tired was not strenuous enough to hurt 
her physically, while it was helping her in more 
ways than one. She could appreciate the feel- 
ings of the girls who stood all day behind coun- 
ters or kept the keys of a typewriter going at 
high speed. Her own experience had enlarged 
her understanding and awakened her sympa- 
thies. 

Mr. Hintner welcomed Hester cordially. His 
manner lost its professional air. He was just 
a cordial family friend who was pleased to see 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 147 


Hester after the absence of almost a year. He 
was so tactful and gracious that Hester never 
suspected that he was talking with her for any 
business purpose. He asked her concerning 
her school life and regretted that the flood pre- 
vented the festivities of commencement week. 

“Yet, it was an experience after all,” he 
said. “Commencements may he had once a 
year. They are really very commonplace af- 
fairs, but a flood is something unusual. It is 
an experience worth while. Yet you seem 
rather fortunate in having unusual experiences. 
Aunt Debby told me of your callers of several 
weeks ago. Were you frightened?” 

“For a while. I thought from their conduct 
that they were crazy, perhaps had escaped from 
some place.” 

The subject was thus introduced and Mr. 
Hintner, by judicious questions, led Hester to 
tell of all that had occurred that day. Miss 
Debby had been correct in her statement. He 
could get nothing new from this story, although 
Hester had told it all. 

“Have you ever talked with this woman or 
seen her since?” he asked. He put the ques- 


148 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


tion without any definite reason. Like many 
another one, he found that which he was not 
counting upon and which he had not counted 
as worth while was the most important factor 
after all. 

“I caught a glimpse of her once,” said Hes- 
ter. “I go out to the Country Club when the 
ladies give dinners or receptions and get the 
items for the paper. One day I got off where 
the car turns the corner near the park. She 
was standing there talking to Jim Bates. When 
she saw me she walked away and took the car 
for town. It was just coming in. She acted 
as though she did not wish me to see her talk- 
ing with Mr. Bates.” 

“Mr. Bates,” repeated the attorney. “The 
name is new to me. Does he live here?” 

“I think not. Indeed I am sure he does not. 
Prom what I heard in the station at Tyrone, 
he is a lumberman and has big contracts in the 
south.” 

“You met him then? Perhaps some of your 
family know him. Did your Aunt Debby meet 
him?” 

“No, I did not mention his name to Aunt 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 149 


Debby.’’ Hester’s face flusbed. Tbe subject 
brought up something she was always trying 
to forget : that she had people who did not care 
to claim her, and who had left her to a stranger 
to rear. 

The attorney observed the flush which over- 
spread the girl’s face and the downcast eyes 
which meant shame of some kind. 

He looked at her steadily. When Hester 
raised her eyes, she met his direct look. 

“I shall tell you,” she said simply. “You 
know more of the matter than I do — that is, 
about me and my people. Aunt Debby told me 
so, that I was to come to you if anything should 
happen to her.” 

The attorney nodded in affirmation. 

“They talked of me — or some one that looked 
like me. I did not tell Aunt Debby. There 
was no use of her knowing, and she might worry 
about it.” 

“You did right, but don’t worry about it 
yourself, Hester. Be a sensible girl and put 
from your mind things which have passed, and 
do not think of anything worrisome for the fu- 
ture. It is going to be a very happy future for 


150 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


you and Miss Alden if I calculate correctly, 
and I have the reputation of having sound judg- 
ment. I can tell you this much, Hester, whom- 
ever you look like or by birth belong to, you 
are legally Miss Debby Alden ’s. No one can 
separate you without you both consent. So put 
any fear of that kind far from your mind.” 

It was a relief to Hester. In spite of her 
light-heartedness, there were times when she 
dreaded the sight of a stranger, fearing always 
that he might come to claim her. 

“There would be no use in repeating this to 
Miss Alden,” said Mr. Hintner. “It might be 
different with me, I will not worry.” He 
smiled at Hester to reassure her, and continued, 
“It might help me greatly to know every detail 
of that conversation; where you first saw the 
men, and every word they said. Can you tell 
me that, Hester?” 

“ If it will help you, ’ ’ she said. ‘ ‘ I have tried 
not to think of it, and I do not like to talk of it, 
but I will tell you.” 

She began a recital of her experience that day 
in the train and how her attention had been 
attracted to overhearing part of the conversa- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 151 


tion between the men. She told also of the 
talk at the station at Tyrone. 

“That is how I knew the man’s name,” she 
said. “The fat, jolly-looking man who sat out- 
side the window said he had come up in the 
train with Jim Bates.” 

“You do not think your fat, jolly-looking man 
knew that you overheard what he was talking 
about?” asked Mr. Hintner. 

“I do not think so. Don’t you think that. he 
would have stopped if he had? I do not think 
that he would wish a stranger to hear.” She 
paused an instant and then looked up at the 
attorney with a look of concern in her eyes. 
“I suppose I should not have listened, but at 
first I could not move away. Then I thought 
the conversation concerned me, and that I 
should know. Then I did not think at all. I 
just listened and listened. Perhaps I wasn’t 
honorable. I’m sure Aunt Debby would think 
I was not.” 

“The circumstances were peculiar,” said 
Mr. Hintner. He leaned forward that he might 
rest his elbow on his desk. He pressed his up- 
turned palm against his eyes to shut out the 


152 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


light, and for a few moments thought hard. 
This was his position when his mind was keen 
on a subject. He shut from sight and sound 
all about him. Of one thing he was assured, 
that the fat, jolly-looking man who sat outside 
the window and related his romantic story had 
done so with the express purpose of having 
Hester overhear. He wished her to know, and 
believed that she would relate it to Miss Debby. 
He had not counted on the girl’s love and faith- 
fulness for her foster-aunt. Mr. Hintner had 
no way of knowing how much of the story was 
true. He was inclined to believe that it was a 
fairy-tale from beginning to end. For what 
purpose it had been created, he could not tell. 
Of one thing he was certain; the little touch 
about the disconsolate father’s being a man of 
standing and of means had been given to in- 
fluence Hester in his favor and to make her 
willing to go with him should he come to claim 
her. 

“Why did they wish to claim her?” Horace 
Hintner asked himself. “Why, too, had the 
money-loving old screw of Abner Stout wanted 
to claim her?” 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 153 


There was some reason which both the fat, 
jolly man and Abner knew. There must be a 
financial reason, or Abner would not have been 
interested. 

Horace Hintner decided that, as soon as he 
had settled the controversy concerning the Al- 
den estate, he would follow up this affair with 
Abner Stout and find out what he knew con- 
cerning Hester, and why he had sought to claim 
her. He would offer to pay him. Abner would 
give the information for money. 

This new matter of which Hester had told 
him, however, had nothing to do with the claim 
made by the woman who called herself Mrs. 
Alden. It was by chance that they presented 
themselves at the same time. The attorney 
reached these conclusions. Then he raised his 
head and addressed Hester. 

“You didn’t see this man. Bates, then, after 
you left the train at Tyrone?” 

“Only when I saw him down in the ravine 
the day I went over to Mary Bowerman’s.” 
Hester laughed when she thought of it. She 
could picture herself sitting there on the log, 
framed in by the branches and the leaves of 


154 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


tlie alder, looking out with frightened eyes, 
watching the men. She laughed again. It was 
a very ridiculous plight to tell of, and she did 
not like to teU Mr. Hintner. 

“I must have looked like a chipmunk, sitting 
there on the log. You’ve seen how chipmunks 
act when they’re startled and look about them.” 

“I’ve seen them so many a time. Were you 
startled?” The attorney tried not to show his 
eagerness. He wanted to know what James 
Bates was doing up in the ravine and on the 
hill. 

‘ ‘ There were two other men with him. I had 
sat down for a moment to — to — think over some 
matters. Then I heard voices and the crack- 
ling of bushes. I was afraid to go on and meet 
strangers — a tramp perhaps. I’m dreadfully 
afraid of tramps. I always was.” 

“And was it?” 

“No, it was the same Mr. Bates whom I had 
seen in the train. There were two gentlemen 
with him, but the other man did all the talking 
— most of it.” 

“By the other man, you mean Mr. Bates?” 
asked Mr. Hintner. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 155 


“Yes,” said Hester. Mr. Hintner buried his 
head in his hands for a few moments. He knew 
what was going on in town. He knew, as did 
almost every one else, that the fall previous a 
party of geologists had spent weeks in the hills 
and mountains and had made reports of the 
geological conditions. It was reported that 
they had found a vein of fire-clay on the ridge 
to the west of town — ^fully five miles from any 
land owned by Miss Alden. This vein, how- 
ever, had proved to be shallow, and though, 
while it contained all the parts which made fire- 
brick, there had not been a sufficient quantity to 
warrant the investment of money to build the 
works. This talk was the common property of 
the town. Perhaps there had been some re- 
ports which were not given to the public. 

Hester unconsciously had given a new idea 
to Mr. Hintner. He raised his head and 
laughed lightly. He did not wish the child to 
consider the matter too seriously. There was 
no need of her bearing the burden of the mat- 
ter. 

“You discriminate, Hester,” he said. “I do 
not know whether you do so purposely, or 


156 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


whether the different words slipped out un- 
consciously. You said two gentlemen and that 
man. What was the difference, or was there 
one?” 

The question brought a smile to Hester’s 
face. She was conscious for the first time that 
she had used the words and had used them be- 
cause she had felt a difference between Jim 
Bates and the men with whom he had been 
talking. 

“There was a difference. The strangers 
looked like gentlemen, and Mr. Bates — ” She 
paused. She could not put the difference into 
words, “ — ^was not just like them. I cannot 
tell just in what way, but there was a differ- 
ence.” 

Mr. Hintner was satisfied with the answer. 
He asked the date of the meeting. She was 
able to tell him exactly, for she remembered the 
day of the month when she and Aunt Debby had 
come home. It was easy to fix it from that. 
Mr. Hintner did not trust his memory with this 
data, but took down notes in a convenient little 
book. 

“Did you form any idea as to what these men 


HESTER’S WAGE-EAENING 157 

were talking about?” be asked. Hester’s face 
flushed. 

“I heard some of their words, but I could 
not understand. They were talking of matters 
of which I was ignorant.” 

“I do not know that you need blush for that,” 
said Mr. Hintner kindly. “A young girl is not 
supposed to know the technicalities of business 
or law. Can you remember any of their words? 
I may be able to fill in the gaps.” 

Hester’s memory was retentive. She remem- 
bered the greater part of what she heard. ‘ ‘ Mr. 
Bates seemed to be insisting that they need not 
take his word. It was a business proposition 
and they could read the report for themselves. 
Then there was something about three months 
and an option and one hundred thousand.” 

Mr. Hintner gave a sigh of relief. It was 
clear to him now why the fat, jolly-looking man 
wished Hester to hear his story. They meant 
to make Miss Debby and Hester worry some 
before they sprung their scheme on them. Mr. 
Hintner, however, could see no connection be- 
tween the piece of business and the claim 
brought against the Alden estate. 


158 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


“All the vultures have smelt the carcass,” 
he said aloud. 

“I beg your pardon, I did not understand,” 
said Hester. 

“I was talking to myself, Hester. A very 
bad habit for any one. I beg your pardon. 
I’m beginning to imderstand your new friends.” 

“They’re no friends of mine,” said Hester. 

“A mere expression.” His lightness was a 
mere by-play to keep Hester from placing too 
much weight on his questions or giving too 
much thought to her answers. He wanted 
spontaneity from her. “I wonder what report 
your friend Mr. Bates referred to? You didn’t 
happen to hear, Hester?” 

“No, he had it in his hand. It was a printed 
report of some kind. He was about to show 
it to the strangers, but they waved it aside.” 

“I would like to get a glimpse of it. It may 
be of little importance, though. Perhaps noth- 
ing more than some newspaper article — a paid- 
for advertisement put up among the news arti- 
cles.” 

“It was a geologist’s report,” said Hester 
with great unconcern. Mr. Hintner had spoken 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 159 


in an indifferent fashion as though the report 
was of little importance, and Hester’s mind 
had unconsciously assumed a similar expres- 
sion. 

“He must have thrown it aside. I found it 
scattered about when I came back from Mary 
Bowerman’s. I picked up several pages and 
tried to read it. It was nothing hut geological 
reports. It wasn’t anything interesting.” 

“Not interesting? I fancied you might he 
of a scientific turn of mind. Now a hoy would 
have carried those papers home and treasured 
them. I’ll wager you that a boy would have 
read every word printed in them. At least, he 
would have carried them home.” 

“Even a girl can do so much,” replied Hes- 
ter brightly. “I did that, hut I did not treas- 
ure them. Boys would not, either, if they were 
compelled to keep house. They would know 
how much litter collects. I carried the report 
home and read a little on the way. It was 
something about iron, lime and soda. I re- 
member those names because they are common. 
There were others, too, in the list, but I have 
forgotten them. They were new names to me. ’ ’ 


160 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


“Did you save it or did it make too much lit- 
ter?” 

“No, Mr. Hintner, I used it to start the fire 
in the range,” said Hester. 


CHAPTEE Vm 


H ESTEE ALDEN had been a wage-earner 
for four weeks. Each Saturday afternoon 
during that time, she had carried home six dol- 
lars and given it to her Aunt Debby. 

“It’s to be used for what we need to eat, 
Aunt Debby,” she said. Debby made no re- 
sponse, but took the money and at the end of the 
month deposited the full amount in the local 
bank in Hester’s name. Hester knew nothing 
of this. She felt that she was providing the 
necessities for them both, and rejoiced that she 
was able to do it. Holding a position was not 
all unalloyed pleasure. There were many good 
times that Hester was compelled to give up. 
Mary Bowerman had completed her plans for a 
camping-party. Twelve girls in company with 
Miss Kenson and a woman to do the cooking 
were to go into camp the first week in August. 
Hester longed to be with them, but that was 
impossible. There were picnics and excursions. 
161 


162 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


The only part that Hester could take was to 
report them, 

Jane was quite overcome with sympathy. 
She could not understand Hester’s motive for 
working. Jane had planned an excursion to 
the ice-cave with a lunch and a bonfire in the 
evening. 

“You know I’d dearly love to go,” said Hes- 
ter, “but when one’s working, one cannot get 
off and go when one pleases.” 

“Don’t you think, Hester, that you’re too 
ambitious? You know Miss Debby would 
dearly love to have you with her all the time, 
and since you are working, she must go alone. 
Don’t you think you’re too ambitious?” 

Hester shook her head. “You don’t under- 
stand and I can’t explain; but I must not be 
idle. I simply cannot be idle.” 

“I love it,” said Jane. The dimples came 
and went in her cheeks. Her eyes overflowed 
with good humor, “I’m never sure whether I 
am lazier than other girls or just more frank 
in expressing myself. But I just adore being 
idle, doing nothing but what I wish to do. I 
would like to bake, if our cook would let me in 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 163 


the kitchen, but she will not, so I gave that np. 
I potter all day long. Sometimes I write let- 
ters, and I read to grandma and go on errands 
and then run in to see you and Mary and try 
some new music and just put in a good long 
day as happy as a lark, never doing a thing but 
amuse myself. ’ ’ 

The girls were sitting on the bench under 
the apple-tree. From their position, they could 
get a view of the road almost to Bowerman’s 
gate. 

“Here comes Mary,” said Jane. “She’s 
making herself a hat. All the girls do some- 
thing but ‘yours truly,’ and she’s just lazy.” 

Hester smiled at Jane. Who could help it? 
She was so good-natured and droll. She ad- 
mired every one and everything. 

Mary came in at the gate and seated herself 
on the grass. She began plucking the clover 
tops and casting them aside. 

“I’ve made myself a duck of a hat,” she said. 
“I made over my Milan, turned it up at the side 
and put a bow on it, and a great big chou of 
Milan.” 

“It must be pretty,” said Jane. “Show it 


164 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


to me if I stop on my way home? I got a new 
one at Mrs. Dunn’s.” 

“I saw it one day. Don’t you remember? 
I don’t think it’s a bit becoming. It’s too lit- 
tle in the crown, and you know, Jane, that with 
your broad, fat face, you ought to wear a small 
hat. ’ ’ 

Jane laughed. Had Mary made any other 
kind of remark, Jane would have been sur- 
prised. The dimples came and went. “Am I 
broad and fat?” she said good-humoredly. 
“You are tall and slender. So I say, but if I 
wished to be disagreeable, I might say, long 
and lank, or skinny and tall. It’s all the way 
you say it, Mary.” 

“Well, isn’t your face broad and fat?” 

“Maybe father calls it something else,” she 
laughed again. If her feelings had been 
touched, she did not show it in voice or man- 
ner. There was a moment’s silence and then 
Jane continued. “Mary, you should break 
yourself of one little habit. We who know you 
and have known you all your life do not mind 
it — much. We know that you’re really very 
bright and kind — underneath — but strangers do 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 165 


not. They’ll think you as acid as your tongue. 
Why don’t you cultivate the habit of making 
people feel at their best instead of at their 
worst, and break yourself of saying such sharp, 
sarcastic things?” 

Mary’s face flushed. “I’ll do nothing of the 
sort. I don’t care whether people like me or 
not. I’m not going around grinning at people 
and telling them that they’re tall and slender 
when they’re stalky and fat. I despise a softie. 
I thank you, I have opinions of my own and I 
intend expressing them.” 

Hester raised her hands in mock alarm. She 
dreaded Mary’s outbursts and was sorry that 
Jane had called one forth. “I’m frightened 
to death, Mary,” she said. “I’m afraid of 
my head. In such a gust as that it might fly 
off suddenly.” She smiled at her angry friend. 
“I shouldn’t like to lose my head, Mary. It’s 
all I have, and almost every day I use it.” 

‘ ‘ Do you ? I would never have suspected it, ’ ’ 
was the reply. Jane came to the rescue. She 
had caused the storm; she would do what she 
could to lull it. 

“Newspaper work requires a head,” she said. 


166 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


“I’ve heard it said that a head is one of the 
essentials.” 

“For what? To see with?” said Mary. 

“Mary, do please be good-natured. You’re 
so nice when you are. You’re like the little girl 
in the story book. When you’re good, you’re 
very good indeed, but when you’re bad, you’re 
horrid.” 

“If I’m that, I’d better go home,” said Mary. 

“No, I’ll go,” said Jane. “I’m what is 
called a peace-breaker. I make a remark, and 
war clamors about my ears.” She did not 
arise, however. Mary’s vexation did not an- 
noy her iu the least. She had become accus- 
tomed to it. They had had enough of it, how- 
ever. She turned to Hester. 

“I should think you’d feel like a millionaire,” 
she said. “You’ve had a salary for six weeks. 
What are you going to do with it ? ” 

“I know what I’d do with it!” cried Mary. 
“I know what I shall do with the first money I 
earn. I shall get a big hat covered with plumes. 
There’s something elegant about a plume. And 
I’ll have a dress lined with silk and I’ll have a 
train. I abomiuate the sight of a woman going 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 167 


about in a skirt to her shoe-tops. There’s noth- 
ing graceful about it.” 

“Particularly if she’s long and lank,” said 
Jane meekly. There was a mischievous twin- 
kle in her eyes, however. Hester shook her 
head in warning. 

“I’d have something handsome — a thick soft 
silk with spangles.” 

“I wouldn’t,” said Jane. “I know what I’d 
have. I’d have a soft silk mull with big pink 
roses and green leaves scattered over it. I’d 
have it made with little frills to the waist and 
frills on the sleeve. I’d wear a big flopping pic- 
ture hat covered with roses. I’d look like a — ” 

“Hogshead,” said Mary before Jane could 
finish her simile. Then they both laughed and 
the storm was over. 

“I intended saying that I’d look like a 
dream,” said Jane, “but perhaps it would have 
been an unpleasant dream — a nightmare.” 

As to what they would do if they had money 
of their own! Mary and Jane threshed the 
subject thoroughly. They did not notice that 
Hester said nothing concerning the way her 
earnings should be spent. 


168 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


“When I was a very little girl,” said Hester 
at last and she spoke as though it had been an 
incident of mediseval history. “When I was 
a very little girl I used to dream of what I 
would do if I ever had fifty dollars. I didn’t 
know how much fifty dollars was — I was so lit- 
tle. I intended to board at that big hotel on 
Water Street — the one that used to have a park 
about it. I was going to board there for a 
month. I could see myself promenading 
through the park with a long train trailing after 
me.” 

“My dream was to buy raisins,” said Jane. 
“Very early in life, I decided that when I grew 
up and could do just as I pleased I would buy 
raisins by the barrel and eat all I could, and 
dispense the others with lavish hand. ’ ’ 

Mary looked sarcastic. She had no tolerance 
for such childish dreams. “Neither raisins nor 
boarding at a hotel for a month would satisfy 
me,” she said. “I always intended to be the 
lady of the Manor and own everything, all the 
land and houses. When people came to me for 
employment or for help, I would have them 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 169 


kneel and kiss my hand as the serfs did in 
feudal times in England.” 

The girls laughed with her. Yet an unpleas- 
ant feeling lingered with them. In this expres- 
sion of her ambitions, Mary had shown, perhaps, 
more of her real nature than she was aware. 

Hester had already fallen into the regular 
routine of the office. She had learned to fol- 
low her assignments as directed, and not to use 
too many of her original ideas. The editor had 
impressed her with the fact that in a daily pa- 
per people looked for facts and not elaborate 
writing; and the more ungarnished the facts, 
the more acceptable. When she entered upon 
her seventh week of work, Mr. Blinn was called 
away for a few days, and a change was made in 
the regular assignments. Bateman had been 
doing the regular meeting of a Woman’s Club 
which met every Monday afternoon. The pro- 
gramme had as a feature a half-hour lecture on 
some subject of particular interest to women. 

“Miss Alden, a minute, please,” said the 
chief, as Hester came into the office Monday 
morning. She went into the private office and 


170 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


stood waiting as was the custom of the office. 
Mr. MacMurray looked at her from beneath his 
shaggy brows. He had quite a fierce appear- 
ance to those who did not understand him. Hes- 
ter had learned that his frown was the worst 
of him. He looked critically at Hester and 
smiled at the idea of giving such a child any 
important work to do. The morning had sug- 
gested rain and Hester had worn a sailor suit 
of dark blue serge with an embroidered anchor 
on the sleeve. Her hair was hung in two long 
braids below her waist with crimson ribbons 
at each end and a great crimson butterfly bow 
where the braids began at the base of her head. 
She looked like a brilliant flower, or a butterfly; 
not like a girl who was working very hard to 
earn six dollars a week. 

“I’ve given you the Woman’s Club meeting 
for this afternoon,” said Mr. MacMurray. 
“We always give them plenty of space. Write 
it up for all it is worth. I must show you how 
to take notes.” He drew pencil and paper to- 
ward him and instructed her how writing one 
or two words would be the means of later re- 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 171 

calling the substance of the thought if not the 
words. 

“We cannot give a verbatim report. It 
would require a stenographer; besides it’s bet- 
ter to get the meat of the talk and work it over. 
Some lectures sound well from the platform 
which would be simply atrocious if printed word 
for word. Get the ideas, don’t misquote, and 
rewrite. 

“The talk this afternoon will be on ‘Art in 
the Home.’ A Mrs. Hill is to give it. I don’t 
know anything about her. She’s a stranger to 
me. She may know a heap about her subject 
and she may know nothing at all. Make the 
best of it, whatever she gives.” 

There were a hundred members in the club. 
These with a few invited guests had assembled 
in the auditorium of the Club House when Hes- 
ter entered. She stood an instant by the door 
and looked about her. The meeting appeared 
to be more of an exhibition of elegant clothes 
than anything else. The ladies wore elegant 
gowns. The elder ones were resplendent in 
soft grays and thin shimmering black lace and 


172 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


nets; the younger women wore embroidered 
mulls, nets with real lace, and picture hats 
heavy with plumes or flowers. There was a 
movement of fans. To Hester standing aloof 
and looking on, the fans seemed like bright- 
winged butterflies. There was a soft swish of 
silk, low silvery laughs, then some one came up 
to Hester. 

“Did you wish to see some one, my dear?” 
Hester heard the question and looked up into 
the face of a white-haired, dainty little lady in 
a soft gown of violet. She looked as dainty 
and fragrant and sweet as a violet. 

“I am from the Daily Record/* said Hester. 
“I came to hear the talk on ‘Art in the 
Home.’ ” 

‘ ‘ How lovely ! I know you will enjoy it, I ’m 
Mrs. Rossman, the president of the Club. If 
you will come with me, I shall escort you to our 
reporter’s table. The weeklies never give us 
a full report. The Record is the only news- 
paper in the city that thinks we are worth 
while.” This was not said in a complaining 
fashion, but in a sweet gracious way which was 
charming. Hester’s mental comment was that 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 173 


this new friend was almost as nice as her Aimt 
Debby, Mrs. Eichards, or Helen Loraine. 

Mrs. Eossman led Hester to the front of the 
room, where at the foot of the platform was 
placed a table and several chairs. 

“Sit here, my dear,” said the lady, pulling 
out a chair for Hester. “You can hear every 
word here. I wish you would write a good re- 
port for us. I am sure every reader of the 
Record would enjoy all that Mrs. Hill has to 
tell us. If there is anything that you do not 
get clearly, come to me after the meeting. I 
shall see that you meet Mrs. Hill. She will 
make any matter clear to you.” 

Hester thanked her heartily and took her 
place. As she sat at the desk, she faced the 
audience who were now finding seats. Hester’s 
face grew crimson. She felt that every one was 
looking directly at her and wondering what she 
was doing there. She could not raise her eyes 
to meet that sea of faces. So she sat for some 
minutes with crimson cheeks and palpitating 
heart. At last she forced herself to look up. 
The women were interested in other matters. 
Not one of them was paying any attention to 


174 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


the little reporter or looking in her direction. 
It was a relief to Hester and yet a prick to her 
pride. She was not the object of any one’s at- 
tention after all. 

After a few preliminaries, Mrs* Hill began 
the address on “Art in the Home.” She was 
one of those public speakers whose talk sounds 
well, yet if read, would be found to be utterly 
lacking in what the newspaper men call meat. 
She was a woman of pleasing appearance. Her 
voice was rich and full. This was her stock- 
in-trade. There was a paucity of ideas in the 
half-hour talk. 

Hester was conscious of this when she began 
to take notes. All was beautiful richly sound- 
ing words and nothing else. A great deal 
might have been made of the subject. There 
was quite enough material for several lectures. 
Miss Webster, the art teacher at the Seminary, 
had given talks on Art once a month. She had 
subdivided the subject into ten parts. Art in 
dress had been interesting to the girls. Her 
Art in decorations and furnishings of the home 
had far excelled that to which Hester was now 
listening. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 175 


She took what notes she could. When she 
went back to the office, however, there were but 
two pages of her notebook filled. 

“Well?” Mr. MacMurray said interroga- 
tively, as she passed his door. Hester knew 
what this meant. He wished to know the re- 
sults of the lecture. She stepped within the 
private office. 

“It — it — really was not very good,” she said., 
“It sounded very well while Mrs. Hill talked 
and the ladies applauded very heartily; but 
when one tried to write it, there were only 
words and not ideas.” 

“Make the most of it you can,” he said. 
“Eemember it is a reporter’s privilege to make 
things better, as long as there is no misquot- 
ing. Make the best of it. If you can add some- 
thing along that line, do it.” 

“I’ll make her say brighter things than she 
ever thought of,” said Hester. Mr. MacMur- 
ray restrained a smile. Hester’s manner of 
expression showed neither braggadocio nor con- 
ceit. It was enthusiasm; the joy that an artist 
on any line feels in carrying out his design. 

Going to her desk, Hester wrote rapidly. She 


176 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


took Mrs. Hill’s few ideas and interspersed 
them with all slie could remember from tbe talks 
which Miss Webster had given. The two fitted 
together nicely. Before lunch hour, Hester 
had written material enough to fill several col- 
umns. Then she laid aside her pencil with a 
sigh. She was tired. She did not realize that 
until the pencil had finished its task and was 
ready to be laid aside. She was hungry also. 
She would enjoy her dinner. She was con- 
scious of having done something well. With 
this feeling of satisfaction, she placed her pa- 
pers on the desk of the chief and went home to 
lunch. 

Her second assignment for the day was not 
until late in the afternoon. Consequently she 
did not hurry back to the office. It was almost 
two o’clock when she came in, took up her pad 
and pencil and was about to set forth. Again 
Mr. MacMurray spoke to her. 

“I thought you said there was no material in 
that Woman’s Club meeting to work on.” 

“There wasn’t,” said Hester. “The whole 
subject, as it was presented there could have 
been written in less than five hundred words.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 177 

The chief lowered his shaggy brows. He 
shuffled some twenty sheets of paper in his 
hand. “You must have three thousand here. 
It’s good matter, too. Where did you get the 
material?” 

“It is my own — ” Hester hastened to explain. 
Then she stopped. “No, it is what I heard our 
teacher in Art give in one of her talks. The 
language is mine, but the ideas belong to Miss 
Webster.” 

‘ ‘ Well, fix it as you will. You and Miss W eb- 
ster have given us a rather good article. 
There’s nothing but meat in it; no padding. I 
wish you’d be more careful, however, about 
your paragraphs. You’ve learned your lesson 
about adjectives.” His brows lowered. 

“You might as well learn it all. If you step 
here. I’ll show you about the heading. You 
can write your own doubles as well as I can. 
Hereafter write them. I’ll cut them out if they 
do not suit me.” 

Hester’s feeling went the way of the ther- 
mometer when the weather’s hot. As she went 
down the steps, her feet barely touched them. 
Her head was in the air, her cheeks flushed and 


178 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


lier eyes brightened. The peculiar part of it 
was that she was not thinking of the salary at 
all, or that this good work might increase it. 
She was conscious only that she had really 
written something so well that as rigid a critic 
as Mr. MacMurray had lauded it. Aunt Debby 
would be pleased. Just to please her Aunt 
Debby was worth twenty dollars a week. 

The following morning when Hester came in 
from her assignment, both Mr. Bateman and 
Mr. Blinn were in the office. One had just come 
in ; the other was making ready to go out. 

‘ ‘ There was a lady here to see you. Miss Al- 
den, ’ ’ said Mr. Bateman. “You ’ll find her card 
on your desk, but her message she left verbally 
with me.” 

Hester took up the card. “Mrs. H. Judson 
Hill,” was what she read. She looked up anx- 
iously into Mr. Bateman’s face; Mr. Blinn read 
her look. “Grieve not, fair maid,” he said, 
“the dowager duchess, who but lately honored 
this sanctum with her presence, came not to 
destroy but to laud. She came to bring thee a 
robe of velvet and to put a ring upon thy 
finger. Would some one would see me thus.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 179 


“Don’t pay any attention to Blinn,” said 
Mr. Bateman. “Surely, Miss Alden, you have 
been in this office long enough to know that 
nothing he says counts. Mrs. Hill came to 
thank you for the excellent account that you 
gave of her lecture yesterday. She bought sev- 
eral dozen copies — ” 

“Three thousand seven hundred and sixty- 
five,” interposed Blinn. “She intends send- 
ing them marked with blue pencil to every one 
whose name she can spell and whose address 
she knows. We ran off a special edition.” 

“ — to send to friends,” continued Mr. Bate- 
man, utterly ignoring Blinn ’s interruption. 
“She was delighted with your account. She 
says our paper is the only one that has ever re- 
ported her correctly.” 

‘ ‘ Eeally , ’ ’ cried Hester. “ I ’m very glad she 
is pleased.” 

“I read it,” said Mr. Bateman. He moved 
back to his own desk and spoke slowly as though 
to himself. “I read it; I wonder if she said it 
all.” 

“I made her say it,” said Hester. 

“So I thought; to those who have no ideas 


180 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


they must be given; but given in such a way 
that those who receive know not that they re- 
ceive. ’ ’ 

Blinn stopped in his work of sharpening pen- 
cils and whistled. “You are a precocious 
youth, Bateman. By the time you’re grown 
up, what will you be?” 

“I know what you’ll be if you don’t hurry. 
It’s eleven now.” 

Mr. Blinn looked at the clock, seized his hat 
and hurried downstairs, improvising as he 
went. 

“It was ever thus from childhood’s day 
My leisure hours have sodden sunk. 

From social joys I’m forced away. 

To seek for thoughts in what is punk.” 

Hester laughed. At the foot of the stair, 
Mr. Blinn paused a moment. Then he began 
again : 

“It was always thus from childhood’s hour 
I’ve seen my fondest joys decay. 

I never had the time to talk 
But found I had no word to say.” 


CHAPTEE IX 

E VEE since Mr. MacMurray had spoken well 
of her work, Hester’s air-castles had been 
growing more elaborate. On her way to and 
from the office she planned for the future. 
There was never a doubt in her mind that she 
would be a writer of renown. She could see 
herself in a handsomely furnished study with 
her table covered with manuscripts. She could 
see the pile of letters, all containing checks of 
no mean value, piled up near at hand. Her 
imagination took one great leap from the pres- 
ent to the far distant future without taking into 
consideration any of the hard steps between. 
It was very much as though a traveler in the 
valley saw himself on the hilltop without ex- 
pecting to climb the slope or to receive many 
a stone-bruise by the way. 

Although every evening found Hester tired, 
and made early retiring a necessity, she en- 
181 


182 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


joyed the work. She gave up picnics and par- 
ties without complaint. 

Debby Aldeu on several occasions when her 
niece came home tired was tempted to declare 
that she should not go back to the work; hut 
her judgment restrained her from giving way 
to her affection and keeping Hester from a 
broad wholesome development. Debby appre- 
ciated the unselfish motive which kept Hester 
at work. She saw, too, that the girl was learn- 
ing more practical English than a year at 
school would teach her. Her handing over her 
few dollars each Saturday evening in a spirit 
of great helpfulness was teaching her a lesson 
which some can never learn: self-denial, and 
sacrifice for others. This was what gave pleas- 
ure to Hester. She was doing something for 
Aunt Debby. She did not suspect that every 
cent of the money she earned was put to her 
credit in the bank. 

Hester’s wage-earning brought her into con- 
tact with many people. She was learning to 
know people as they were and not as they ap- 
peared to be. 

After her article on “Art in the Home,” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 183 


Hester Alden would have attempted anything 
in the line of writing. For days, however, 
there was nothing but routine work with no 
opportunity to show off one’s brilliance. 
Everything was boiled down without adjective 
or dressing of any kind. The season was dull 
for any social affairs. The paper was made 
up principally of telegraph news and plate mat- 
ter. 

The Woman’s Club held their last meeting 
for the summer in August. For the two months 
following they took a vacation. The last half- 
hour lecture was to be one really worth while. 
“Tuberculosis — Its Prevention and Cure.” 
The members of the club were delighted with 
having secured a specialist on the subject. He 
was a Doctor Bridgeman of New York City, 
and had made his name famous in certain lines 
of medical work. 

Hester had read something of his life. She 
admired him greatly, just as she would have 
admired any one who had accomplished any- 
thing worth while. Deep in her heart the girl 
was a hero worshiper. Like many another 
person older and wiser, she made a mistake in 


184 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


taking it for granted that lie who is great in 
one thing is great in all. She forgot that even 
famous people are human and have faults 
which are the mark of difference between the 
human and divine. 

Much to Hester’s delight, she was assigned 
to Doctor Bridgeman’s lecture. No limita- 
tion had been put on her in regard to length. 
She was told simply to do the best she could. 
That pleased her most of all. She would 
take the lecture for all it was worth. Perhaps 
the famous man would call at the office and 
thank her for her fine report. 

His lecture was easy to take. Every sen- 
tence meant something. As verbatim reports 
were never given in the Record, the reports 
put down only leaders — a word or part of a 
sentence which would recall the thought to 
naind and which the reporter would reproduce 
in his own language. 

Hester took copious notes; hut while doing 
so, her mind wandered a little from the sub- 
ject. She was thinking not so much of what 
Dr. Bridgeman was saying, as she was of the 
best way to write it up later. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 185 


She returned to the office and wrote steadily 
until time to go home. There were almost 
thirty pages written in her clear, bold hand. 
She looked it over with a satisfied feeling, put 
it on the editor’s desk, and went home. 

She wondered if Dr. Bridgeman would come 
into the office to thank her as Mrs. Hill had 
done. She did not believe that he would. 
He had had so much newspaper praise and 
stood so high in his profession that the report 
in a little daily would mean nothing at all to 
him. No doubt the great man was so ab- 
sorbed in his life work that he had no thought 
of laud or honor. His purpose would be to 
bring about some good for humanity. Ap- 
plause would mean nothing at all to him. 

Hester reasoned thus with herself. Yet in 
spite of her logic, she could not but hope that 
she would meet the great man face to face. 

Mr. MacMurray said nothing at all about the 
article. There was neither praise nor criti- 
cism. It had appeared in the paper the day 
following the lecture and had been given the 
leading place on the page devoted to other 
than telegraphic news. 


186 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Wednesday morning Hester was assigned to 
a eamping-party. Some of the younger people 
on Wilmot Avenue were going up on the 
shore of the lake to camp for several weeks. 
Hester was to get the names and any details 
which would make an interesting account. 
These young people like to see their names in 
print. Mr. MacMurray cautioned her not to 
omit one from the list. 

Wilmot Avenue lies on the outer edge of 
town. It was the residence street on which 
was known as the Wilmot Addition. Hester 
made her visit and returned to the office. The 
door into Mr. MacMurray’s room was closed. 
The chief was talking earnestly. Hester went 
on to her desk, drew up her papers, and began 
to write. 

Mr. Blinn was at his desk but not busy. He 
was chuckling to himself as though he knew 
something exceedingly funny. Mr. Bateman 
came in, looked at the closed door, shook his 
head ominously and went to his desk. Blinn 
looked grave. “The man who does his very 
best gets most the kicks from all the rest,” he 
said. “But cheer up, Bateman, if it’s you. 


HESTER’S WAGE-EAENING 187 


A few hard knocks develop the man in you. 
Criticism is what develops. Hear, heed 
and — ” ‘ 

“Keep advice until you’re asked for it,” said 
Mr. Bateman rather sharply. “You may need 
the consolation and not I.” 

Hester had completed one sentence. She 
paused with her pencil in the air, her head 
lifted and her ears alert. 

“Any New York doctor who thought I gave 
out such rot as that would say I was fit for 
an asylum. It must be rectified — ^it’s got to he 
rectified — ” 

Then Mr. MacMurray’s voice interrupted. 
He spoke slowly. Hester could catch the 
sound of his voice but not his words. The 
chief was never loud. But the high-pitched 
angry voice again interrupted. The person 
was angry. He had evidently lost control of 
himself. Hester waited until she was sure 
that she recognized the voice. Dr. Bridge- 
man! Could it be possible that an educated 
gentleman of such standing as he had no more 
self-control! Hester’s idol worship went down 
in market value to far below par. In her own 


188 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


thoughts, she had been claiming much for a 
man who could accomplish things. He was 
not being choice in the expressions he used. 
Hester’s face flushed. Through fault of hers, 
Mr. MacMurray was bearing this. With a 
feeling that no one must bear the result of her 
action but herself, she arose and walked directly 
into the private office. Her head was held 
proudly, but two bright spots glowed on her 
cheeks. 

The doctor was standing in the middle of 
the room with a copy of the Record in his 
hand. He was gesticulating wildly; his voice 
was pitched high. He looked very much like 
a badly-disciplined child to whom an external 
application of birch rod would have been bene- 
ficial. He had studied the article and had 
marked with red ink the expressions to which 
one could take exception. 

“Twenty-eight mistakes — twenty-eight mis- 
takes,” he bellowed forth. “Think of any man 
permitting twenty-eight mistakes in two col- 
umns of a paper. Why, the person who wrote 
this and the editor who let it pass is fit only 
for an asylum.” 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING- 189 


Mr. MacMurray -was leaning back in the 
chair. He showed no more feeling about Dr. 
Bridgeman’s expressions than though they 
were a casual observation concerning the 
weather. 

“Every one doesn’t see matters from your 
point of view,” he said slowly. “We write for 
an intelligent public and not for the medical 
fraternity. We have more right to use a word 
in its common rather than its technical sense. 
Our reporters are not doctors of medicine.” 

“I wrote that account,” said Hester advanc- 
ing. “What is wrong with it. Dr. Bridge- 
man?” 

He did not lower his voice. He did not pay 
her the courtesy of a salutation. 

“What is wrong with it? What isn’t wrong 
with it?” He flaunted the paper in her face. 

She took it from his hands and read it. 
“You have this marked,” she said. “ ‘There 
are four ways of transmitting tuberculosis : by 
inheritance, infection, inoculation, and inges- 
tion.’ ” 

“I didn’t say there were four. Infection in- 
cludes inoculation.” 


190 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


“But you said so. I remember quite dis- 
tinctly. You said, ‘There are four ways of 
transmitting, ’ and then you named them in the 
order that I have written them.” 

“I meant one to include the following. I 
said it parenthetically,” he declared. His 
voice was a little lower now. He was rather 
surprised at the fearlessness of the girl. He 
had not believed that she would enter the office 
and claim the responsibility of the article. 
Hester was not bold; neither was she afraid. 
She defended herself just as she would have 
defended another, had the situation been 
changed. It was a mere act of justice to de- 
mand justice for herself as well as for an- 
other. She had had that idea bred in the 
bone from sixteen years’ living with Debby 
Alden. 

“You did not say it so,” said Hester. “If 
you meant it so, your words gave a wrong im- 
pression.” Mr. MacMurray turned his head 
aside. He was delighted. He had dealt with 
the young doctor before and knew what to ex- 
pect. He was surprised at Hester’s calm man- 
ner which he decided was courteous. Deciding 



I WROTE THAT ACCOUNT,” SAID HeSTER, ADVANCING. “ WhAT IS 
WRONG WITH IT, Dr. Bridgman ? ”— 7,99. 















HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 191 


that she was well able to take care of herself 
and defend her rights, he dropped from the 
conversation. 

“This mistake is one the printer has made,” 
she said after a further study of the ominous 
red marks, “I am quite sure that I wrote ‘in- 
gestion’ and not ‘indigestion.’ I was not sure 
of the word and looked in the dictionary. I am 
quite sure — as sure as I can be that I wrote it 
correctly.” She turned toward Mr. MacMur- 
ray. He nodded in affirmation. “Yes, Miss 
Alden, you did use the word correctly. That is 
a mistake of the typesetter.” 

“Do you have no proof-reading?” asked the 
doctor. 

“Most assuredly; but it must necessarily be 
done very hastily. We cannot give it the time 
that you give to the revision of a book, I re- 
gret the error, and take the responsibility of it. 
Miss Alden was guiltless there.” 

“And this?” said Hester. “I can see 
nothing at all wrong with this. ‘Dark damp 
places, illy ventilated, are a malignant source 
of tuberculosis.’ You have ‘malignant’ marked 
with red ink. What is wrong with it?” 


192 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


“Wrong? It is all irony. ‘Malignant’ 
means ‘cancerous.’ ” 

“The dictionary says it means ‘evil produc- 
ing,’ ” said Hester gently. 

“In medicine it means ‘cancerous.’ ” Dr. 
Bridgeman delivered this ultimation with a 
very pompous air. “The New York doctors 
would jeer at me for such an expression.” 

“Perhaps the dictionary would take pre- 
cedence even of the New York doctors when it 
comes to the definition of a word,” said Hester. 

This was quite too much for Mr. MacMurray. 
He laughed aloud. He considered Hester’s 
little touch of sarcasm most effective. The 
girl, however, turned toward him with a look 
of surprise. She could not understand why he 
laughed. She did not think herself witty, and 
had not intended being sarcastic. She had 
made a statement of something as it appeared 
to her. She saw no reason for Mr. MacMur- 
ray’s giving way to laughter. 

The editor-in-chief, feeling that Hester had 
sustained her position long enough, took the 
matter in his own hands. He was decided. 
He considered matters well before he at- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 193 


tempted expression. He could make a show of 
temper, but be never lost temper. He con- 
trolled bis voice as well as bis facial expression. 
He arose from bis cbair and stood erect as 
tbougb bis words were final and closed tbe con- 
versation. 

“As I said before, Dr. Bridgeman, we write 
for tbe general public and not for tbe medical 
fraternity. It would be out of place for a 
daily paper to keep to tbe tecbnicalities of any 
trade or profession. We bave quoted you cor- 
rectly as far as ideas are concerned. We ac- 
knowledged one typographical error and regret 
it. We shall rectify that, however. As to the 
use of tbe adjectives. Miss Alden was justified 
in taking tbe dictionary as her standard. You 
bave no criticism then at all. As to tbe New 
York medical profession’s being set agog by 
this report and your reputation ruined — 
that’s tbe veriest kind of nonsense. I doubt if 
our paper ever reaches that city. Surely, a 
man with tbe reputation in medical circles 
which you claim to bave would not lose it by 
a misstatement if they were so — ^in tbe col- 
umns of a daily in a city of this size. It’s all 


194 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


a case of bluff. Hereafter, if you wish a re- 
port given, send us in a typewritten account. 
We cannot give you any free advertising other- 
wise. I’m a busy man. Dr. Bridgeman, so if 
you will excuse me — ” 

He did not finish the sentence. He was al- 
ready bent over the papers on his desk. There 
was but one thing for Doctor Bridgeman to do, 
and he did that quickly. He hurried from the 
office, rushed through the reporters’ room and 
down the stairs. 

Hester went back to her desk. She sat down, 
but could not work. Her eyes were filled with 
tears so that she could see nothing before her. 
If Mr. Bateman had not been in the room, she 
would have put down her head and cried aloud. 

She kept back the tears. She had too much 
pride to carry her hurts so that every one might 
see and pity her. She did not wish pity. She 
did not wish people to think that she was a 
weakling who was not only unable to do any 
work, but who cried when matters did not move 
smoothly. 

Mr. Blinn had gone out. She was glad that 
he had. He had such a fun-making way with 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 195 


him. She felt as though she could not possibly 
bear teasing or any reference to the mistakes 
she had made. There had been a personal 
hurt in the experience of the morning, but 
there had been more than that. She had had 
such faith in the perfection of those who do 
great things ; and that faith had crumbled into 
dust. She could not understand how a man 
with a dozen diplomas and degrees, who had 
performed great operations and who spent 
hours in the sick room, could act like an undis- 
ciplined spoiled boy. She was disappointed in 
him and hurt that her faith in great men had 
been so rudely shaken. 

Mr. Bateman had not raised his head when 
she came in. He was rattling the keys of the 
typewriter with lightning speed and humming 
to himself while he did so. He saw Hester but 
decided that the kindest course would be to act 
as though he saw her not. But when after the 
minutes passed and she sat still without mak- 
ing an attempt to get to work, he decided he’d 
laugh the matter otf. He wheeled about in the 
chair, took a good look at her and began, “I 
was just thinking this morning that you were 


196 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


escaping miglity easy. You’ve been bere all 
summer and have bad nothing but bouquets 
thrown at you. Why if any one bad rubbed 
me down as smoothly as Mrs. Hill did you, I’d 
struck for an increase of salary at once. You 
didn’t seem to think much about it. I think 
you didn’t realize how seldom they come to a 
reporter. ’ ’ 

“I think the fuss that Doctor Bridgeman 
made about his article made up for all the 
bouquets I have received,” said Hester, trying 
to keep the tears from her voice. 

“Surely, you’re not caring about that. I 
wouldn’t give that — ” he snapped his fingers, 
“for all his criticism. The trouble with him 
is that he has a bad ease of overdeveloped 
egotism. He went through the same grand- 
stand performance last summer. I was the 
guilty one then. I just laughed at him. I 
didn’t even take the trouble to go in and ex- 
plain. It didn’t matter to me whether he 
thought I was an imbecile or a genius as long 
as I knew that I had the goods.” 

“I was sorry that I was the cause of trouble 
to Mr. MacMurray,” said Hester iWoefully. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 197 


“Doctor Bridgeman said dreadful things to 
him, that he was a fit subject for an asylum, and 
other things quite as bitter. It was all my 
fault that Mr. MacMurray had to hear it.” 

Bateman leaned hack and laughed aloud. 
His effort was a little forced, but it was in a 
good cause. Hester did not observe that the 
laugh lacked spontaneity. 

“Don’t concern yourself about Mac. He 
enjoys a scrap. If he didn’t get one once in 
so often he’d feel that he had a grievance. A 
scrap, you know, is to a man like a grindstone 
to a knife; it sharpens him up and keeps him 
from getting dull. Besides, that is what Mac 
gets a big salary for. We poor fellows can 
peg away in sun and storm and just get enough 
to pay our hoard; while Mac lives in luxury 
and sits in a nice cool office and does nothing 
except order us around. Don’t worry about 
Mac. He’s drawing a big salary just to head 
off the fellows who have a kick coming.” 

There was something contagious in Mr. Bate- 
man’s point of view. His matter-of-fact man- 
ner was more effective than his words. Hester 
blinked her eyes quickly several times, and 


198 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


was enabled to force a smile to her lips. Mr. 
Bateman observed and was greatly encour- 
aged. He continued with an air of a philoso- 
pher. “Three weeks from now you’ll have 
forgotten that this happened. A year from 
now you’ll have forgotten even Doctor Bridge- 
man’s name. I wouldn’t waste tears over any- 
thing that will not be remembered longer than 
that. I save my tears for something which is 
really worth while.” 

“I am not crying. I had no intention of 
crying,” said Hester with some assumption of 
dignity. 

“I did not say you were. You, Miss Alden, 
have the fault of youth. Every one goes 
through that stage. I did myself. You have 
the youthful idea that every remark made in 
your presence has some direct reference to 
yourself. Had you been observing, you would 
have noticed that in my remarks, I used the 
pronoun ‘L’ I said I would not waste my 
tears. I didn’t say anything at all about what 
you might do.” 

For an instant Hester’s head went up and 
her chin was tilted at the angle which marked 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 199 


the danger zone. Just for an instant it was 
so. Then she laughed. One could not be 
angry with Mr. Bateman. He had such a droll, 
serious, old-msin air in spite of the fact that 
he was very young. Hester looked at him and 
laughed. 

“One would think you had the experience of 
seventy years to your credit to hear you talk,” 
she said. “You’re quite a philosopher.” 

“I don’t pretend to be. In this case, I’ve 
proved myself a skilled physician of the hom- 
eopathic school.” 

Hester looked up at him with a look of in- 
quiry. 

“Don’t you know what their motto is? I 
suppose that is the right word for it. I’m not 
up on synonyms. Mac is always telling me 
that I make one word do the work of ten. 
Don’t you know what they always have on their 
diplomas? It’s their slogan. That’s a better 
word than motto any day.” 

Hester shook her head. “No, I don’t 
know. I don’t think I ever made a study of 
their diplomas, although I’ve seen one hanging 
in Doctor Heim’s office.” 


200 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


“It’s in Latin.” He paused, rubbed bis 
forebead as tbougb that would put tbe gray 
cells to work. “I can’t remember tbe Latin 
words. It’s ‘similia’ something or other. 
I know tbe meaning, tbougb. It is ‘like 
cures like.’ It works all right in medicines as 
well as other things. It cured your case of 
blues right now.” 

‘ ‘ Mine ! I don ’t understand, ’ ’ said Hester. 

“Think it over. Miss Alden. Your wrath 
against Doctor Bridgeman and your anger at 
me for criticizing your tears were like the Kil- 
kenny Cats. They swallowed each other, you 
know.” 

Mr. Bateman laughed heartily. There was 
nothing forced about it now. Hester looked 
quite sober for an instant and then laughed 
with him. 

“I suppose I was very silly,” she said. “I 
shall not think of it again. I shall begin my 
work and forget that Doctor Bridgeman and 
tuberculosis exist.” 

Mr. Bateman was already back at his 
machine working away at a great speed. Hes- 
ter turned to her papers. Pinned to the top 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 201 


was a page in Mr. Blinn’s writing. It was 
named. ‘‘Consolation” and was inscribed “with 
sympathy” to Miss Alden. Hester laughed 
merrily when she read. 

“It is always thus from childhood’s hour, 

I write the brightest ‘squibs’ in town, 

But ere my head expands in girth 
Some gay galoot must caU me down. 

“I wrote a brilliant ‘art’ on ‘med,’ 

Then sat and dreamed of great renown. 

But ere gay dreams have fancy fed 
I’m proved the dullest dolt in town, 

“But Consolation offers balm 
To all us weary sons of mothers ; 

It helps us wonderfully to know 

In times like these, there have been others.” 


CHAPTER X 


f I ''HE unsettled condition of her affairs made 
it impossible for Debby Alden to decide 
whether Hester should return to the Seminary 
at the opening of the fall term. Should the 
claimants for Ezra’s share prove their right, 
Miss Debby would not only be compelled to 
divide all she had, but also to make restitution 
for the tract of lumber land which she had sold 
the previous year. 

The woman who declared herself “Ezra’s 
widow” had been repulsive to Debby Alden. 
Neither envy nor selfishness had prompted the 
feeling. There was a natural antagonism. 
They were by nature opposed. Towards the 
girl, Deborah, however, Miss Alden had a 
wholly different feeling. The girl appealed to 
her. Had Debby had her way, she would have 
known this girl better. She would have 
brought her into her home and talked with her. 
The girl seemed to have a similar attraction 
202 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 203 


for Debby. She looked longingly at the elder 
woman when they met in the street or stores. 
Her eyes followed where Debby Alden moved. 
She looked like a girl who was hungry for love 
and confidence. Yet her mother was kind to 
her and deferred to her wishes whenever they 
were not in accordance with her own. The girl 
was not happy. That was evident. Debby 
knew how she would feel if the time should ever 
come when she would see in Hester’s eyes that 
unsatisfied, unhappy look that was evident in 
the eyes of the girl who called herself Deborah 
Alden. Debby ’s heart softened toward her. 
Several times when they met by chance Debby 
would have spoken with her, but the mother 
hurried her away, giving opportunity only for 
a word of recognition. 

Mr. Hintner had gone west and had not 
written. Debby felt that this meant no news, 
or no good news at least. When he returned, 
he had little to tell. Silver City had changed 
from a mining to a manufacturing town. The 
class of people who had been there when Ezra 
Alden had drifted in had gone their way. 
Many had died. Mr. Hintner had visited the 


204 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


weed-grown cemetery on the hillside in search 
of names in the hope of tracing some of the 
families. He had found Ezra’s grave, which 
was marked with a small slab of granite. 

William Stokes, the Justice of the Peace, who 
officiated at Alice Harpster’s marriage, had 
moved away to live with a married daughter. 
No one remembered where she had gone or the 
name of her husband. That is, Mr. Hintner 
could fiind no one who knew, though it was not 
to be doubted that there were some, for a young 
woman does not, in a few years, drop entirely 
from the memory of the people of her town. 
Mr. Hintner had visited every “old timer” 
that he could find trace of. The few who re- 
mained had reached the age where memory was 
uncertain. They could be positive of nothing. 
Alice Harpster had married, one old man de- 
clared, but he couldn’t remember the name of 
the man. He remembered Alice though — “a 
great big girl with a long braid of red hair.” 

Then an old crone who had come into Silver 
City as a bride mumbled away reminiscently. 

“Alice Harpster — the jade. Worried her 
mother to death with her wild ways. Never 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENmG 205 


would work, always riding bareback, or climb- 
ing mountains, and when not doing that, making 
eyes at the miners. Never so much as cooked 
a rheal and her mother slaving herself to 
death.” 

“The mother! What kind of a woman was 
she?” Mr. Hintner had asked. 

At this, the face of the old crone lighted up. 

“Too good for earth; worked and slaved to 
bring up her pack of children. She’d better 
let them all starve for all the good they did 
her. Always a kind word for every one. 
Never so poor that she hadn’t a crust for them 
that was poorer. Soft and gentle spoken. 
Not a young man in all the camp but went to 
her with his troubles. Just a saint on earth 
she was. It was a harder earth, too, for her 
than for most folks. ” 

“Did she take care of Ezra Alden when he 
was ill?” had been Mr. Hintner ’s next ques- 
tion. 

The old lady shook her head. “How should 
I know? I didn’t live near. We had a new 
shack close by where the trestle is now; then it 
was all woods as shady and nice as you please. 


206 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


The Harpsters had a boarding-place down near 
where the station is now. You see, I didn’t see 
much of what went on in the house. Mrs. 
Harpster’d have as high as fifty boarders that 
she’d cook for. They slept in tents mostly, put 
up anywhere it was handy.” 

“But Alice married. Do you remember 
whom she married?” 

The old woman shook her head. “I never 
took no stock in her with her red mane tossing 
over her shoulders like she was a wild one. 
She married some one. I was glad to hear it 
for her mother’s sake; but I don’t know as I 
ever heard the man’s name. Alice went away 
the day she was married. She and her hus- 
band was back here when her mother died. 
But I wasn’t here. I was off to Bighorn visit- 
ing my son Rufus, who’s married and got a 
job up there.” 

Mr. Hintner inquired the date. The woman 
was not sure. She thought, however, that it 
was about eight years before. She was uncer- 
tain. Rufus, however, would remember. It 
was the summer that his little girl had died. 

Mr. Hintner had taken the address of Rufus 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 207 


who was living in the northwest. If it was 
possible to fix the date of the old lady’s visit 
and Alice Harpster’s return with her husband 
and daughter, he might accomplish something. 
He had visited the cemetery a second time to 
copy the date of the death of Mrs. Harpster. 
It was nine years previous to Alice Harpster’s 
appearance as an heir to the Ezra Alden es- 
tate. Ezra, however, had been dead ten years. 
There was a discrepancy somewhere. 

“I am confident that this woman is an im- 
postor,” said Mr. Hintner to Miss Alden. 
“But we must prove it. If I read the girl 
aright, her daughter is an unwilling partner in 
this. The girl looks harassed to death. She’s 
unhappy in her position. I do not doubt that 
if I could have a talk with her I could persuade 
her to tell me the whole story. She’s naturally 
upright and honest. Perhaps she has inherited 
the moral status and mind of her Grandmother 
Harpster. Every one in Silver City who re- 
members her, spoke of her with love and re- 
spect. I believe this girl is like her. I would 
talk with her alone, but her mother keeps close 
guard. The girl never walks alone. I’ve gone 


208 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


up to the hotel several times and the mother 
never leaves the parlor or veranda if her 
daughter is there. The girl is ready to rebel 
and the mother fears it. She’ll be able to 
keep her silent as long as there is no outside 
influence brought to bear.” 

“Do you think so! Poor girl!” said Debby 
Alden, while her eyes filled with tears. “Her 
lot must be very hard. I’ve thought all along 
that she did not look happy. I wish there was 
something I could do for her. I know how I 
should feel if Hester was looking so miserable.” 

Mr. Hintner restrained a smile. He might 
expect such sentiment from Debby Alden. 
Practical, economical, and far-seeing as she 
was, she was a sentimentalist in heart and was 
moved to pity by the sight of mental or physical 
suffering. She possessed a wonderful faculty 
which i.:j denied many a brilliant man or woman. 
She could put herself in the other person’s place 
and understand how that one felt. She could 
never be selfish, for she suffered when others 
suffered. Now, she forgot herself and what 
the loss of her estate would mean to her. She 
thought only of the unhappy young girl whom 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 209 


filial obedience compelled to a course opposed 
to ber sense of right. This younger Deborah 
Alden had material things which are supposed 
to count for happiness. She was living at the 
best hotel in town ; she dressed handsomely and 
drove with her mother about the country. But 
these things did not reconcile her conscience 
to her mother’s course of conduct and her own. 

Debby Alden understood and sympathized 
with such mental suffering. She knew now 
why she had been drawn toward the girl. 

“Poor child!” she said again. “I wish I 
could do something for her. Is there anything 
I could do, Mr. Hintner?” 

The attorney smiled. “There are many 
things which you might do, but not one, I am 
sure, which her mother will permit you to do.” 

“Perhaps, some day, I may,” said Miss 
Alden, smiling. “Matters may turn out bet- 
ter than you and I expect.” 

“I hope so — ” Then he corrected himself. 
“They will turn the right way. I’ll see to that. 
I am convinced that this woman is an impostor. 
I must have proof, however. The law will 
allow us a year to settle the estate after the 


210 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


claim is made. Unless we have ample proof 
beforehand, we’ll take every minute allowed 
us. Sometimes the unexpected holds off until 
the eleventh hour.” 

“Do you think Conrad and Westerleigh 
would take part in such work?” asked Dehby 
Alden. “I do not like to think that they 
would willingly be partners to fraud.” 

“I believe they are honest enough in this. 
The woman comes to them with a statement of 
her case and what appears to he sufficient proof 
to substantiate her claim. To them, the pro- 
ceedings may he aboveboard. Their sympa- 
thies may be with you. Miss Alden, for they 
have known you all your life and are part of 
the town; but sympathy should not count in 
legal matters. If they are convinced that this 
person was your brother’s wife, it was right 
for them to take the case.” 

“I understand,” said Debby. “Their atti- 
tude is much like my own. If this is Ezra’s 
widow, I would give her what was his without 
question, but I should not like to give it to a 
stranger who has no claim on it. I’m quite 
sure I should prefer keeping it.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 211 


“To return to my western experience,” said 
Mr. Hintner. “I found that William Stokes, 
the Justice of the Peace, had gone with his 
daughter. After a week’s thorough canvass of 
the town, I could find no one who remembered 
her name or could locate her. A notice in the 
town and county papers, however, brought bet- 
ter results. The young woman herself had seen 
my notice asking for information concerning her 
name and address. She wrote me at once.” 
The attorney paused a moment. “I’m a little 
doubtful as to the motive which prompted her 
to this,” he said with a smile. “It was not all 
generous impulse brought about by a desire to 
help some one. I think it was more the natural 
curiosity of womankind.” 

“Say, rather, of some women,” said Dehhy 
Alden. “You cannot mass us under one head 
and say that we have the same virtues or vices. 
We are quite different, I assure you.” 

“I believe that. I shall not impugn her 
motive. Whatever it was, she wrote me. She 
had married a man named Eandalls and was 
living at Lanier. I lost no time in going there. 
Lanier is about fifty miles from Silver City.” 


212 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Debby Alden was leaning forward witli a 
show of earnestness in her manner. Her eyes 
were glowing and a crimson spot burned in each 
cheek. Since Hester had admired her in white 
frocks, Debby had fallen into the habit of wear- 
ing them on all suitable occasions. She looked 
dainty and high-bred in her immaculate white 
linen and Milan hat with bows of white ribbon. 
She had gathered a great bunch of pink and 
lavender sweet peas to carry to a friend. 
These lay loosely in her lap against the snowy 
whiteness of the linen. It was the finishing 
touch to a beautiful picture, but Debby Alden 
never suspected it. 

Her eagerness verged almost on impatience 
as she leaned forward. Mr. Hintner talked 
too slowly and deliberately when matters were 
at a crisis. The attorney observed her impa- 
tience, but he did not hurry his speech. He 
took his own time to speak and consider well 
before he expressed himself. 

“Her father,” she told me, “had been living 
with her since her marriage. He had been 
buried, however, some time last spring. She 
knew little of his records. When he had 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 213 


packed preparatory to Ms leaving Silver City 
lie had destroyed several boxes of letters and 
papers of different kinds. He had brought a 
few with him. She was tmder the impression, 
however, that these related only to her own 
family.” 

“Did you look them over? Would she per- 
mit you to do that?” asked Debby Alden. 

“She was willing enough but it could not be, 
just at this time. The boxes were packed away 
in an attic. She said there was barely room 
for a child to stand upright, the roof was so 
low. The place was unfinished. Her husband 
had some of his papers and little keepsakes 
packed away there. She could not hunt up the 
papers herself, and she would not permit a 
stranger to go rummaging about, since the arti- 
cles packed away were not her own. I was will- 
ing to wait an hour or a day, but even that did 
not do. Her husband is a traveling salesman 
for one of the mining companies. He was out 
on the road then. She was never sure of his 
arrival. She did not believe, however, that he 
would return in less than a week or ten days. 
He had gone east and was working his way 


214 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


west, stopping in most of the larger manufac- 
turing towns.” 

“And nothing could be done?” asked Debby. 
“It seems too bad to go so far and almost have 
the information and then let it slip from your 
hands.” 

“Scarcely that. She gave me her word of 
honor that she would look over the papers when 
her husband returned and if there was a word 
relating to Ezra Alden or the Harpster family, 
she would forward it to me at once. I think 
I can depend upon her. I am not easily de- 
ceived in people. She had the appearance of 
an honest, common-sense woman who would 
not make a promise she could not fulfill. 

“Of her own accord, she gave me some infor- 
mation. She was a little girl while in Silver 
City, perhaps fifteen years younger than Alice 
Harpster. She remembered some things which 
had occurred there, although she says her fam- 
ily moved away before she was ten years old. 
She did remember Alice Harpster ’s being mar- 
ried. The younger girls were supposed to be 
attending school which had opened in a shack 
which miners had discarded, and which was 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 215 


being taught by a young man from an eastern 
college who had come west to prospect and had 
found it anything but paying business. The 
report was carried to school at noon that Alice 
Harpster was going to be married at noon up at 
Squire Stokes’s. 

“Weddings had been few in Silver City; 
This Euth Stokes says that she and several 
other girls who came under the head of 
her nearest and dearest friends played truant 
and hurried back to Squire Stokes’s of- 
fice which was in the front room of his house. 
There was no one in, as it was barely 
past dinner-time. The girls climbed up a lad- 
der into a loft which opened by a trap 
door. Here they lay face downward peering 
through the small square opening. They were 
forced to wait some time, for the squire was 
tardy in getting around. But the girls had the 
satisfaction of seeing a real wedding with 
Alice Harpster as the bride. The newly mar- 
ried pair went away on the afternoon stage. 
The girls intended going down to the tavern to 
see them off, but fate and the squire decided 
otherwise. He stayed below with several men 


216 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


and talked politics and smoked for an kour after 
tke ceremony had been performed. Eutb was 
afraid of ber father’s displeasure. Sbe would 
not have ventured from ber biding-place while 
be was about. So the girls lay there in the 
dust, flat on their faces, while the bridal pair 
went off in a gayly decorated stage.” 

“Then sbe would know the name of the 
groom if sbe saw Alice Harpster married,” said 
Debby Alden. The attorney shook bis bead. 
“You must remember that sbe was little more 
than a child. The wedding appealed to ber be- 
cause it was something sbe bad beard of and 
never seen. Sbe knew Alice Harpster and of 
course that name remained with ber. Sbe told 
me that sbe could not remember the name of 
the man; that she was not sure that sbe bad 
beard it even during the ceremony.” 

Mr. Hintner showed no disappointment in 
the results of bis trip. His faith in the ulti- 
mate results of the settlement was so evident 
that Debby Alden wondered if be bad not kept 
something worth while from ber. Perhaps 
there was something yet in such an unsettled 
state that be could not even hint at it. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 217 


Debby, however, was disappointed. Mr. 
Hintner bad spoken of a year’s passing before 
a possible settlement might be made. 

“I wish the matter could be adjusted soon,” 
she said. “Whatever the results, I would pre- 
fer certainty to imcertainty. I cannot decide 
about Hester’s return to school.” 

“Why not? Were you dissatisfied with the 
Seminary work ? ” 

“Far from it. I wish she could return and 
graduate. Seminary trustees, being but human, 
demand money for services rendered. If I 
must settle with Ezra’s heirs I shall have very 
little. You understand that as well as I do. 
Under the circumstances, I cannot spend the 
money for her education.” 

“Will you take my advice?” Mr. Hintner 
asked suddenly; “Take it without questioning 
or quibbling in the least?” 

“I think I can readily promise that,” said 
Miss Alden. “You know my financial affairs. 
You are interested in Hester’s welfare as well 
as I, as an attorney and a friend. Yes, Mr. 
Hintner, I shall take your advice. I know that 
what you advise will be wise and disinterested.” 


218 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


“Then get your niece ready for school and 
send her off the very day it opens.” Debhy 
would have spoken but he raised a silencing 
hand. “Eemember you promised to obey with- 
out question. You have enough ready money 
in the bank to pay your own and her expenses 
imtil the first of the year.” 

“Most assuredly,” said Debby. “The 
Aldens never count so close that they cannot 
see a few months ahead. Yes, it has always 
been my rule to keep a little ready money where 
I could put my hands on it in case of an 
emergency. One never knows what is going to 
turn up. ’ ’ 

“If every one could live up to that theory, 
there would be less trouble. Hester must go 
to school. I’ll promise you this. If this 
woman proves her claim and you are forced 
to the wall financially. I’ll be responsible for 
Hester’s Seminary bills. Now please do not 
say a word, Miss Alden.” He raised his hand 
as though to stop her words. “I do not expect 
to spend one cent. I make this promise to prove 
to you that I have faith in the ultimate success 
of our efforts. But if things should go astray. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 219 


I do not wish you burdened with bills brought 
about by taking my advice.” 

Debby Alden gathered together her bouquet 
of sweet peas and arose to leave. 

“Whichever way the matter ends, I shall not 
come to want. The Aldens were never people 
to live at a pinch. I’ll try not to be the first 
of the family. Grandmother Palmer used to 
say, ‘There are more ways out of the woods 
than one.’ If I cannot see my path clear in 
one direction, I can turn to another. I promise 
you that Hester shall be sent to school.” 

When she had gone, Mr. Hintner mentally 
reviewed every detail of the case. He had no 
doubt that the woman was an impostor and that 
she was not working alone. There was some 
one in the background to advise and assist her. 
Who that person was, or whether it were one or 
several, Mr. Hintner could not decide. An- 
other phase of the case presented itself. 
Taking it for granted that the woman was an 
impostor, why did she not put her efforts to 
use to gain more than what the paltry half of 
the Alden estate would be? Her share, acting 
upon the supposition that she would be able 


220 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


to secure it, would not be sufficient for a living 
for berself and daughter. 

If she really was Ezra’s widow, why did she 
not make berself known ten years before? If 
she were not, why did she waste her time and 
ingenuity on such a little scheme? 

These questions presented themselves to Mr. 
Hintner’s mind. He believed that the solution 
of one would mean the solution of the other. 
After turning the matter over in his mind, he 
decided that something new in connection with 
the Alden estate had come up within the last 
year, something which would make it worth 
while. Coupled with the vague reports which 
had been current for months and what Hester 
had told him of seeing the man. Bates, in the 
ravine in company with two strangers, the con- 
versation in regard to the report and the papers 
scattered about, led to the same conclusion. 
The men had come up over the hill, so Hester 
had told him. This was the way most difficult 
to travel. It was stony and overgrown with 
underbrush and wild berry vines. James Bates 
had led them past the open footpath. It was 
evident that he did not wish to be seen by the 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 221 

Bowennan or the Alden family. His action was 
not above suspicion. He who is doing no evil 
fears not to be seen. 

Mr. Hintner turned and touched a hell. 
When his boy responded, he requested him to 
bring a certain book on geology. It was a prac- 
tical volume giving the composition of different 
strata. Under clays of various kinds he found 
a list of the essentials of fire-clay. Among 
them were soda, lime, sulphur, as Hester had 
said. 

It was fire-clay, then, which was the attrac- 
tion to James Bates. If the ravine and hills 
beyond were rich in it, the Alden estate would 
be something worth while. James Bates knew 
that clay was there. That was evident. He 
was not a manufacturer himself or he would 
have gone directly to Debby Alden and trans- 
acted business with her. From what Hester 
had told him, Mr. Hintner decided that Bates 
had appeared in the capacity of a seller rather 
than a purchaser. 

Mr. Hintner ’s elbows found their way to the 
polished surface of his desk. His head went 
down upon his upturned palms. For a long 


222 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


while he sat so, and gradually the whole scheme 
revealed itself to him. This Bates and the 
woman who called herself Mrs. Alden were 
working together. She was to prove her claim 
to a half of the Alden estate. Perhaps she 
would later assume a self-sacrificing mood, and 
declare that she would not rob Debby of her 
home. She would be generous and take as her 
share the ravine and fields beyond the hill. 
While she was doing this. Bates, pretending to 
be the Alden agent, would have purchasers 
ready. The instant the transfer of land is made 
into Alice Harpster’s name, the sale with the 
fire-clay people is consummated. That part of 
the scheme was clear. Mr. Hintner could not 
understand the reason for the conversation on 
the train which the man. Bates, and his jolly lit- 
tle companion had contrived that Hester should 
hear. That there was a purpose in it, Mr. Hint- 
ner did not doubt. He gave little thought to 
that phase of the ease. He was satisfied with 
his afternoon’s work in clearing away some of 
the tangles. It is one thing, however, to con- 
vince one’s self and quite another to convince 
others. He must set about to find proof. The 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 223 


first step would be to discover where Jim Bates 
and Alice Harpster bad come from previous to 
their appearance at the Bend. He would set 
some one to trace their movements backward 
instead of looking about for a starting-point to 
work forward from. 

Miss Herard, the private stenographer, was 
with his partner. He rang for her and dictated 
a letter and instructed her to make a number 
of first copies of it, and to use paper with busi- 
ness head. 

The letter was one which might be sent to 
any manufacturer of fire-clay. It stated that 
the writer as attorney for the Alden estate 
would like the matter of the option on the Al- 
den clay settled; that if any doubt was in their 
mind as to the value, they could send one or 
more of their men to examine and take a quan- 
tity for analysis. The letter was written in 
such a style that one would believe that this was 
but a continuation of a correspondence and not 
the first. 

Mr. Hintner knew that from any trade pub- 
lication he would be able to secure the name 
and address of every manufacturer of fire-brick 


224 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


in the country. He would send a copy of the 
letter to each firm. One of them would be that 
with which James Bates had negotiations. He 
knew that they would communicate with him at 
once, if for nothing more than to learn why he 
had thrust himself into this matter. He be- 
lieved that they would go deeper. Business 
men do not spend hundreds of thousands of 
dollars without understanding every move made 
in relation to that spending. 


CHAPTEE XI 


S ATUEDAY afternoons Hester’s office work 
was lessened and she came home early. 
She always carried with her six dollars. Her 
feet were very light at such times and she cov- 
ered the distance between the office and home 
in about half the time she generally required. 
Six dollars! It was that when she left for 
home, but her talisman touch made it much 
more before she reached her own door. Some- 
times it had been a five-dollar bill and a one. 
Other times it had been all one-dollar bills. She 
preferred the ones. It seemed to be much 
more, and it took her longer to count it slowly 
into her Aunt Debby’s hands. 

For Saturday evening lunch Debby Alden 
had always some extra dainty that Hester liked. 
It was the Saturday evening mail, too, which 
generally brought a letter from Helen Loraine. 
So, consideriug all matters, Saturday afternoon 
225 


226 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


was a most satisfactory ending for a busy 
week. 

This particular afternoon she returned to find 
a letter from Helen Loraine awaiting her. She 
sat down under the apple-tree to read it while 
Debby put the finishing touches to the even- 
ing meal. 

Helen had spent the summer with Mrs. Vail. 
“Dear Auntie is most miserable, both mentally 
and physically,” she wrote. “Her trips were 
wholly unsatisfactory, with no results but a 
poor, tired-out, disappointed woman to come 
home with just a little less hope than ever be- 
fore.” 

Hester read that part of the letter several 
times. She did not grasp the full meaning. 
During the months she had roomed with Helen, 
such suggestions had been frequent. Sad ! 
Disappointed! Hopeless! Why? Hester had 
no idea. She looked upon Mrs. Vail as one of 
the fortunate women of the world. 

“Dr. James Baker has been here part of the 
summer. I showed him your picture. He no- 
ticed the resemblance to me, though I told him 
at once that you were ‘heaps’ better-looking. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 227 


He seemed very mucli interested in you; asked 
all sorts of questions. I, like a veritable little 
chatterbox, told Mm everything I knew about 
you and your Aunt Debby. I am growing quite 
proud of my descriptive power in narrative. 
He listened for an hour while I described your 
beautiful Miss Debby, with her sweet, gracious 
manner. 

“I told him that I was coming to visit you. 
I am going to do that very thing, and within 
a week or two. Unless you send me word not 
to come, you may expect me next Thursday. 
Dr. Baker says he will come down to meet you 
and your aunt while I am there. I hope that 
you and Miss Debby will be more than gracious 
to Mm. He has no home — only rooms, which 
are no home at all. You remember that there 
was a romantic story about his having a sweet- 
heart long ago.” 

Helen was not easily tired in letter writing. 
She continued with news of all the old school 
friends. Hester eared nothing about these 
later personals. Like a flash, understanding 
came to her. The picture of the pink-cheeked 
boy, whom Aunt Debby called “Jim Baker.” 


228 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAKNING 


“No wonder lie was interested in all Helen told 
him concerning the Aldens.” Hester laughed 
softly. Dear Aunt Debby! How lovely it 
would be! Hester sat for some time turning 
over plans in her own mind. At length she 
went in to lunch. 

“My letter was from Helen Loraine,” she 
said. “She will be here next Thursday, Aunt 
Debby, unless we send her word that it will not 
be convenient to have her.” 

“It will be. We shall give her a royal wel- 
come. She will do us good. You and I have 
allowed ourselves to become nervous over this 
affair of Ezra’s. We need diversion.” 

“I shall write her at once.” Hester did not 
mention Dr. Baker’s name, nor did she offer to 
let Debby read the letter as had always been 
her custom. She could not repress the smiles 
and dimples. It was very evident that she was 
keeping back something. 

“What is it, Hester? You are smiling to 
yourself as though you had a state secret.” 

“I am pleased with Helen’s letter. She has 
written so many pleasant things.” 

“lam glad you are free this afternoon, Hes- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 229 


ter.” Miss Debby rose from tbe table. 
have been sewing for you, and I must have you 
try on before I go further.” 

“Wbat is it, Aunt' Debby?” Hester came 
close and looked down on a row of beautifully 
made button boles. 

“A shirt-waist for you. It is almost done ex- 
cept putting in the sleeves. I should like to fit 
it under the arms a little and trim out the arm- 
holes. I’ve always had a little trouble with the 
fit there.” 

“I did not know you intended making me 
one,” cried Hester, delighted. Taking up the 
waist, she looked it over. “It’s a dream — sim- 
ply a dream,” she said. “Where did you get 
that insertion. Aunt Debby? If there is one 
thing I simply adore, it is a shirt-waist tucked 
with tiny pin-tucks and insertion between.” 
She was quite excited over her new possession. 
“When did you start it? I didn’t know you 
intended making it.” 

“I did the tucking yesterday. The rest I did 
after dinner to-day. I have done so little sew- 
ing all summer that your waists are getting 
very shabby. They will stand very few trips 


230 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


to the tub. You’ll need at least a half-dozen. 
Fortunately, I can easily make them. I can 
easily make a plain tailored one in an afternoon. 
I thought you would get along nicely with two 
fine ones and four heavier, plainer ones.” 

“Six? I think I shall. The office is a dirty 
place to work in. Aunt Debhy. Don’t you think 
dark flannel waists would be more suitable? 
It will take such a quantity of laundry work.” 

“I had no thought of the office, Hester. The 
fifteenth of next month school will open. I have 
written to Doctor Weldon that you will be there. 
I have asked her to reserve your old room if 
possible, and to secure for you a room-mate as 
nearly like Helen Loraine as possible.” Debby 
laughed softly. Hester’s love for Helen was 
unbounded. “Does that please you, or would 
you rather have one not like Helen?” 

“Oh — ” Hester drew the word out slowly. 
It was impossible to trust herself to speech. 
She stood quite still for an instant, her eyes 
all the while growing bigger and bigger. Then 
suddenly, she recovered herself and, pouncing 
upon Debby Alden, she threw her arms about 
her and hugged her hard. All the while, she 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 231 


kept saying, “Eeally! Eeally! Is it true? 
Am I to go back?” 

“I would like to take a breath, Hester, if you 
don’t object,” said Debby after a few minutes 
bad passed and Hester’s clasp bad not relaxed. 
Debby gently drew berself away from tbe bear- 
like embrace. “Hester, do be calm. Sit down 
bere and let’s talk over tbe matter. You are 
sucb an emotional creature when you once let 
go of your feelings. I wish you would learn 
more self-control. I do not like — ” 

“Yes, you do. Aunt Debby, but you tbink it’s 
silly to acknowledge it. You like me to be 
fussy over you, and all tbe while you try to act 
as though you were merely putting up with it. 
I know you like it. I intend from this very day 
to be just as fussy as I like, and that will mean 
most of tbe time.” 

“Hester,” said Debby Alden in a tone of re- 
proach. She always intended disciplining Hes- 
ter. Debby believed in rigid discipline for 
young persons. She believed in it as a theory ; 
but, somehow better results were always 
reached by discussing a subject with Hester 
rather than commanding her to follow a course 


232 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


blindly. Debby satisfied her conscience by 
being, at rare intervals, very severe with Hes- 
ter. The result bad always been tbe same. 
Hester read her adopted aunt very well. When 
Debby assumed her rigid, critical air, Hester 
always laughed, gave her a good hug, and the 
discipline ended there. She did this now. 
Debby bore it with stolid good grace. 

“Now, Hester, if you have finished with your 
nonsense, we’ll discuss your going to school. 
Your clothes are not in the order I wish them.” 

“Can I really go. Aunt Debby? WTiat about 
the money?” 

“That has been arranged for. We must not 
put off your education. Now are the years for 
that.” 

Hester had forgotten about the Daily Record 
and the possible glory which might come to 
her as a journalist. She was clutching the six 
one-dollar bills in her hand. In her excitement 
she had caught them together and they lay in 
her hand in a tightly rolled ball. She had for- 
gotten about them. She controlled herself suf- 
ficiently to sit beside Debby and discuss the 
new articles necessary for her wardrobe. At 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 233 

intervals, however, she broke forth in a low 
laugh. 

“Just to think I’m going hack when I’d given 
that up. It’s too good to be true. Please pinch 
me. Aunt Debby. I know I have fallen asleep 
and am only dreaming. Please pinch me — here 
on the arm.” She held forth a very plump 
arm. 

“Instead, I shall box your ears,” she said. 
‘ ‘ Sometimes I think I have not fulfilled my duty 
by you. I should have spanked you more fre- 
quently when you were little and boxed your 
ears now when you are a big girl.” 

“I may have needed it,” cried Hester gayly. 
“But you couldn’t do it. Aunt Debby, even if 
I had needed it badly. The trouble is, Auntie, 
you never would have seen that I needed it, 
however naughty I might have been.” 

“I’m generally considered very discerning, 
Hester,” said Miss Alden. “You do not flat- 
ter me by such a statement.” 

Hester laughed again. She was fairly bub- 
bling over with joy. “You and I are just alike 
in one way. Aunt Debby. It’s really more as 
though I were your daughter than your niece. 


234 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


You think that everything I do is right, and I 
often sit and wonder if you really are perfect 
or if I just think so. I often look at other 
women and think how much more beautiful 
you — ” 

Debby Alden reached forward and laid her 
finger tips on Hester’s lips. It was flattery, 
of course. The boldest sort of flattery, yet 
practical Debby Alden who was famed for her 
rare common sense liked it. It warmed all the 
region of her heart and took away for the time 
that feeling of loneliness, which in spite of Hes- 
ter’s presence was always with her. Her 
cheeks flushed into a soft delicate color and her 
eyes grew bright. Hester’s rare demonstra- 
tions of atfection and her expressions of love 
always sent Debby Alden ’s mind back twenty 
years. The drives to spelling school were as 
though it were but yesterday that she had gone 
with Jim Baker. She could see his round boy- 
ish face with its piak cheeks and laughing eyes. 
Only for an instant did she permit herself to be 
reminiscent. In her own mind she called her- 
self very foolish and recalled the fact that she 
had had a fortieth birthday. Try as she would. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 235 


she could not feel old. To-day with the summer 
air about her, the laden branches of the apple- 
tree bending over her, she could not be old. In 
spirit and heart she was just Hester’s age. 
Just an instant of dreaming, and then she 
brought herself back to the present. 

“You can wear your coat-suit again this win- 
ter. It needs a good pressing. It was a very 
well-made suit in the beginning. I am afraid, 
however, that you’ve outgrown your long coat. 
You’ll need that in skating.” 

“Aunt Debby, I’d rather have a sweater. A 
long coat is too heavy to skate in, and it flops 
about your heels too much. I’m always very 
warm when I skate. A sweater is quite wrap 
enough.” 

They discussed the subject from all points of 
view. The flrst excitement had subsided. Hes- 
ter became conscious that she was clasping a 
tight wad of bills in her hand. 

‘ ‘ Oh, my precious money. I f orgot about it, ’ ’ 
she exclaimed. She smoothed the bills out 
nicely and handed them to Miss Alden. This 
brought to Hester’s mind something she had 
forgotten. “About my work. Aunt Debby! 


236 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


What shall I do about that? I shall be really 
sorry to give it up. There is something pleas- 
ant, although it is hard at times and I come 
home tired. The men in the office are kind 
to me. I like Mr. MacMurray now that I am 
acquainted with him, although at first I was 
a little bit afraid of him. He looks cross, 
but when you come to look closely you’ll find 
that it is only his eyebrows which are cross. 
His eyes are kind and twinkle when anything 
funny happens. What shall I do about the of- 
fice work. Aunt Debby?” 

“The only thing that can be done. You must 
stay with them next week. It would not be just 
to them to leave without giving them time to 
arrange their work. Monday morning you may 
speak to Mr. MacMurray and tell him the rea- 
son for your leaving and that after two weeks 
you cannot return to the office.” 

“Aunt Debby,” Hester leaned eagerly for- 
ward and laid the tips of her fingers against 
Debby Alden’s arm. There was genuine con- 
cern in her voice and anxiety in her expression. 
“Aimt Debby, what about my salary? How 
will you get along without it? It isn’t very 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 237 


mucli, I know. It will be more soon. Mr. 
Bateman says they always raise tbe salary to 
ten dollars a week after one bas worked three 
months and made good. Those were his words, 
‘made good.’ How will you get along without 
my salary, Aunt Debbyf I will not stop work 
and go away if you must deny yourself and per- 
haps work and get tired.” 

“I’ve been tired many times, Hester, and re- 
covered from it. I do not know that being tired 
is an evil to be avoided. On the contrary, I 
think it’s an excellent thing if it does not hap- 
pen too often. I shall not be compelled to go 
out and work for other people. If I should, I 
think I shall turn lecturer,” she laughed softly. 
‘ ‘ Our Club women have asked me to give a talk 
at the next meeting on Myths and Folklore for 
children. It is very silly to ask me, there are 
so many intelligent, educated women among the 
members.” 

“But you can do it. You’ll not refuse. Aunt 
Debby? You can easily do it.” 

“I shall tell them the ones that I reared you 
on, Hester. What a great quantity I used to 
know and tell to you! You never grew tired 


238 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


of hearing them. Sometimes I was at my wits’ 
ends to satisfy yon. I shall tell those. If they 
like the result of my work, they can follow my 
method. If they do not, they will leave it 
alone. ’ ’ 

“But, Aunt Debhy, about the money? You 
didn’t really answer my questions, you know. 
Tell me really, truly, how can you get along 
without my salary?” 

“Just as I have been doing, Hester.” Miss 
Alden looked at the bills in her hand with lov- 
ing tenderness. “Did you think for one mo- 
ment, Hester Alden, that I would let you go out 
and earn for me when I’m well and strong? I 
loved you better for the spirit which prompted 
you to do what you did and the generous way 
in which you handed your little store to me that 
I might spend it as I would without a question. 
I loved you for the spirit which prompted you 
to do what you did. It was the right one, but I 
could not have you work for me. I allowed you 
to work these eight weeks because I believed it 
would do you good. You have learned a great 
deal. Sometimes I think quite as much as you 
did at the Seminary, although of a different or- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 239 


der. You have learned to do exactly as you’re 
told.” Debby smiled as she continued, “and 
that without asking the reason. You’ve learned 
a great deal about writing. That lesson in ad- 
jectives was worth a great deal to you. I some- 
times think you should pay Mr. MacMurray 
for his lesson instead of having it the other 
way.” 

“ You don ’t appreciate me, Aunt Debby. Y ou 
forget always that I am not a little girl. I’m 
a wage-earner; a literary woman; a journalist. 
Any one of the three is quite important. You 
think of me always as a little girl.” 

“And I always shall. You will never become 
old enough or famous enough to be anything 
more than my little girl. You’ll always he my 
little girl to me.” There was something pa- 
thetic in the manner in which this was said. 
In spite of her words Debby Alden realized that 
Hester was growing up. The little girl would 
soon he a woman. Debby was too practical to 
^ve up to her emotions for any length of time. 

“The money that you have given me I have 
not spent, Hester,” Debby continued. “I have 
put it in the bank to your credit. Mr. Allen 


240 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


made out a nice little book for you. This will 
make tbe fund forty-eigbt dollars; next week 
it will be fifty-four. You must learn bow to 
take care of your own money. Father was very 
broad-minded about his children. He always 
said that he knew no reason why his daughter 
should not be taught how to manage her money 
as well as his sons. Father took great pains 
to teach me about cheeks and notes and depos- 
its of various kinds. It has always been a help 
to me. I shall teach you about it. Having a 
little money laid away earning a little for one, 
always gives a comfortable feeling. It’s al- 
ways better to be a little ahead than a little be- 
hind and it’s far less worrisome to the nerves. 
I believe in always having a roof for a rainy 
day. 

“Next Saturday I shall go with you to the 
bank. You can get a certificate of deposit for 
fifty-four dollars. That will earn for you two 
dollars a year. It would almost keep you in 
gloves, Hester. It will be much wiser to let 
the fifty dollars earn gloves or hose for you 
than to earn them yourself. A little self-denial 
now and then makes it possible. Some folks 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 241 


never see it that way. They never realize that 
money is to he servant of the people. When 
rightly used it is that.” 

Before tea-time, Dehhy and Hester had set- 
tled to their satisfaction the wardrobe that 
would be needed for the coming year at school 
and Hester had heard a practical talk in writing 
checks and signing her name. 

Monday morning Hester entered the office 
earlier than was required of her. She wished 
to speak to Mr. MacMurray before she went to 
her assignments. She told him of Miss Al- 
den’s decision in regard to school and that her 
work in the office must end with the week. 

“Better for you to be in school,” said Mr. 
MacMurray gruffly, “Miss Alden is quite 
right in that. I’m sorry to lose you, though. 
You’ll make a journalist in time. You’re young 
yet and there’s a lot of things you must learn. 
Perhaps I expected too much of you all sum- 
mer. Don’t give up your writing. Any one 
who has the smallest atom of talent in that line 
should cultivate it. It will take time, but you’ll 
come out all right in the end. It’s stick-to-it- 
iveness which counts.” 


242 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


That ended the conversation as far as Hes- 
ter herself was concerned. Mr. MacMurray 
gave her some directions as to the week’s work 
and then turned to the pile of work on his desk. 
Hester knew this to be a sign of dismissal and 
went back to the outer office. 

Mr. Wilson had recuperated during his two 
months’ vacation, which he had spent in a camp 
in the pine woods where newspaper, copies, or 
editorial never penetrated. He would return 
the following week and take up his work. This 
meant a step down again for the three men who 
had been advanced to fill his place. Hester 
being on the last rung of the ladder might have 
been pushed entirely off. It was fortunate for 
her that she was able to resign and could look 
forward to school. 

August is a dull month for newspaper people. 
Many business offices are closed and society is 
at a standstill. A reporter learns to pad ma- 
terial during August in town or city. The 
W Oman ’s Club had adjourned for a time. These 
lessened Hester’s assignments. She was kept 
busy in looking up references for Mr. MacMur- 
ray. Ii had become known that she would give 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 243 


up her work at the end of the week, but no 
cause had been assigned. The spirit of help- 
fulness asserted itself. 

Miss Maynard took the opportunity of com- 
ing to Hester’s desk to offer her help. “If 
you’re resigning because the work is too heavy, 
I’d reconsider. I did not realize that you were 
new to the work. It has been such a long time 
since I came into the office that I had forgotten 
how arduous a beginner finds it. You will get 
used to it in time, and it will seem easier. I can 
help you some. I should have offered to do it 
before. I was simply thoughtless. Dictate to 
me in place of writing. It will he much eas- 
ier.” 

‘ ‘ Thank you. Miss Majmard. Y ou were help- 
ful to me from the beginning. I have not re- 
signed because the work is too heavy.” She 
would have given the reason, but some one came 
in to claim Miss Maynard’s attention and the 
conversation ended. 

“What’s this about your resigning?” asked 
Mr. Bateman in his blunt, quick way. “What’s 
the matter? Don’t you like the people in the 
office? Haven’t we treated you well? I know 


244 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


I have a short way of speaking, Miss Alden, 
but I don’t mean to be ugly. It’s just a disa- 
greeable habit I’ve fallen into and can’t break 
myself of. I hope I haven’t said or done any- 
thing to make the office work unpleasant ? ” 

“No, indeed you have not. Every one has 
been as kind as can be. I do not know how you 
could have been more considerate. I did not 
resign because of that. I — ” 

Mr. Blinn came rushing in. Strange to say, 
he was neither whistling nor singing. He hur- 
ried across the room. “Nice reporter you are. 
Miss Alden. They tell me that you reported 
that you had resigned. It’s all a mistake. 
There isn’t a word of truth in it. Have you 
not been taught to verify your reports before 
they are made public? No, you have not re- 
signed. You will remain in the office of the 
Record until you’re editor. After that we’ll 
consent to your leaving if you go where honors 
wait — to a desk in the city.” 

“I think it’s your poetry, Blinn, that has done 
the business,” said Bateman, looking quite seri- 
ous. “Your poetry is — ” 

“My poetry,” said Blinn, looking as though 


HESTEE’S .WAGE-EARNING 245 


the words were new to him. “I never wrote a 
line of poetry in my life,” 

‘‘I know you didn’t, but you thought it that. 
That stuff you called poetry did the business. 
I warned you before. This is the third re- 
porter you’ve driven off and yet you’ll not 
learn.” 

Hester had learned to like Mr. Blinn with 
his ability to do a great amount of serious work 
and yet jest and laugh as though he knew no 
responsibilities. She admired his skill in twist- 
ing his sentences. He knew literature and was 
always changing a quotation to suit the occa- 
sion. 

“I should think you would sell all your 
funny rhymes, Mr. Blinn,” said Hester, “I’m 
sure the funny papers would be glad to buy 
them.” 

“You don’t know the funny papers. Miss Al- 
den, and you don’t know Blinn. You’re flatter- 
ing him. To me, his attempts at humor are 
simply pathetic.” 

“Pure jealousy,” said Blinn calmly, “I 
have written a great deal. Miss Alden. One 
time at home I had our cellar and attic packed 


246 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


with, manuscripts. I took them out once to 
burn them. It was a week’s work.” 

Hester looked at him keenly. She was not 
quite sure if he were joking or not. His face 
was serious enough to make one believe that he 
was in earnest. 

“And you never tried to sell them?” she 
asked. He shook his head and smiled a sad, 
wan smile as he said slowly, as though relating 
a tale of woe, 

“I burnt the stuff what I had writ, 

Of gay romance and gruesome tale ; 

Burst into flames when they were lit, 

They made the summer sun look pale. 

So great the pile, the Orient 
Just touched it on the eastern side. 

And in the west the Occident 

Kept them from blowing far and wide.” 

Hester assumed as serious an air as he. 
“There must have been quite a number,” she 
said. 

“There were,” said Mr. Blinn. “I go forth 
now to write more.” It was well that he 
reached the decision, for Mr. MacMurray com- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 247 


ing into the room glanced at the clock and then 
at Mr. Blinn. 

“I am off this instant,” said Mr. Blinn. 

“As you usually are,” said the chief. “If 
you catch the ten o’clock, you’ll be able to do 
more than most of us.” 

“I usually do — ” he paused and glanced 
from the chief to Bateman — “do more,” he fin- 
ished as he closed the door back of him. 

Mr. MacMurray laughed until his sides shook. 
“There’s no getting ahead of him. He’s al- 
ways a ready word, and he ’ll have the last one. ’ ’ 
He turned to Hester. ‘ ‘ Miss Alden, I wish you 
would look over a file of dailies of three years 
ago. I think the article I want was in August. 
I’m not sure. You had better begin with July 
and examine each one. This is what I want.” 
He handed her a paper on which was written 
“W. S. Clarke vs. Alliston Suburban Eailway.” 

“Three years ago W. S. Clark brought suit 
against the company. We had the full particu- 
lars in the Record at that time. The question 
has come up again and is on the docket for 
September Court. Find the account of three 


248 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


years ago and call me. I’ll take from it wkat 
I wish.” 

Tlie files were kept in the vault. Mr. Bate- 
man brought out that of three years ago and 
placed it on Hester’s desk. The papers were 
musty and covered with dust. Hester fingered 
them gingerly. She turned the pages slowly, 
letting her eye run down each column. Any 
article which in any way suggested the one for 
which she was searching she read over care- 
fully. It was a task which could not be per- 
formed hurriedly. It was tedious. Hester’s 
eyes grew tired, moving from top to bottom of 
the column. She had gone over almost a hun- 
dred papers when a leading article on the first 
page caught her eye. It was press matter il- 
lustrated with two photographs. Hester’s eyes 
fell on the picture. Then she leaned forward 
and began to read the article word for word. 
When that was finished, she looked again at 
the picture. “The hair is worn ditferent. 
That’s all. It’s the same person.” She was 
so excited that she cried aloud. The other per- 
sons in the office looked at her in surprise, hut 
Hester was indifferent to all about her. Hur- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 249 


rying into Mr. MaeMurray’s office, she ex- 
claimed, “I found something in a paper there 
which is very important to — to Aunt Debhy and 
me. Mr. Hintner must see it at once. Can I 
take the paper to him?” 

“It is really impossible. Miss Alden, to al- 
low the files to leave the office. That is a law 
among newspaper people.” 

“But Mr. Hintner must see it. You do not 
realize how very important it is. It’s — it’s — 
well, I cannot explain to you, hut it’s something 
Mr. Hintner has traveled all over the comtry 
to find out.” 

“The paper cannot leave the office.” Then 
seeing the genuine anxiety on Hester’s face, 
Mr. MacMurray added, “Call up Mr. Hintner 
at his office. Let him know what you have 
found and ask him to come here and see. He 
has the privilege of reading or copying it if he 
thinks it worth while.” 

Hester was already at the telephone. When 
she had communication with Mr. Hintner ’s of- 
fice, she began talking hurriedly and in broken 
sentences. “It’s Hester Alden talking, Mr. 
Hintner. I’m at the Record office. I found 


250 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


sometliing among the papers. Ton want it. 
Mr. MacMurray says for you to come. Eight 
away, please! It’s important. Don’t wait un- 
til after lunch, please.” Then with a glad, 
“Will you really? Thank you,” she hung up 
the receiver. 


CHAPTER XII 


HEN Hester’s telephone call came for 



* » him, Mr. Hintner was hnsy with his 
morning’s mail. His stenographer had sent 
out twenty letters to the addresses which he 
had given her. These twenty names embraced 
the fire-brick people of the country. One of 
these twenty Mr. Hintner was confident would 
he the firm with whom Jim Bates was transact- 
ing business. The replies had been coming in 
for several days. Each had said in substance 
that there must have been a mistake in ad- 
dressing the enclosed letter to their firm. 
They had had no communications in regard to the 
Alden clay-field. If the proposition were worth 
while, they would be glad to consider it. 
Seven letters had come to Mr. Hintner. This 
morning three more lay on his desk. The sec- 
ond one had given him the information for 
which he had been writing. It was from the 
firm of Miller and Woodin, the largest fire-brick 


251 


252 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


manufacturers of tlie country. They informed 
the firm of Hintner and Hendig that they were 
ready to fulfill the verbal agreement made be- 
tween them and Mrs. Alden’s man of business, 
Mr. Bates. Their attorney would confer with 
Mr. Hintner at any date that would be con- 
venient for him. 

This clinched the matter for Mr. Hintner. 
He perhaps could not prove that the Alice 
Harpster was a trickster, but he had sufficient 
proof to frighten her and Jim Bates into giving 
up the claim if they were not honest. 

This man. Bates, was not staying at the same 
hotel with Mrs. Alden and her daughter. They 
pretended to have no knowledge of each other. 
Mr. Hintner had seen them pass each other on 
the street without a sign of recognition. It was 
plainly evident that they wished no one to know 
that theic interests were the same. 

The description which Mr. Hintner had re- 
ceived of the man Alice Harpster had married 
suggested Jim Bates. The suspicion was in 
Mr. Hintner ’s mind that Jim Bates was the 
man who had married Alice Harpster, and hear- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 253 


ing by chance of the great wealth of clay which 
lay on the Alden estate they determined to get 
it by fraud. No doubt, they meant to dispose 
of it to Miller, and Woodin for cash the instant 
the woman had the deed in her name, and then 
leave the locality. It was a cleverly planned 
scheme, but incidents were forcing themselves 
to the firm in order that the scheme would mis- 
carry. 

“File this letter, but do not answer until I 
speak of the matter again.” 

He talked with Hester then over the tele- 
phone. He thought her xmduly excited and told 
her she might call at the office and tell him 
what she had found of interest, but she had 
not been satisfied with this and begged him to 
call at once. He had promised. Her insistence 
had not pleased him. He was a man who made 
his own plans and did not permit them to be 
interfered with because of the whims or impor- 
tunities of others. His acceding, to Hester’s 
request was unusual. He put away his letters 
and gave the bell-boy orders to call for his ma- 
chine. It was almost noon. He would call at 


254 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


the Record office, look over the all-important 
something which Hester had found, and go home 
to lunch. 

“Mail what I have dictated,” he said to Miss 
Herard. “I’ll not be back before two o’clock, 
if any one should ask for me.” 

His man and machine were waiting for him 
in the street below. He went down and gave 
directions to drive to the Record office. He was 
not in the best of humor at the interruption. 
He kept his feelings to himself, however. 

Hester had not been able to return to her 
work. She could think of nothing but the arti- 
cle with its glaring headlines which had flaunted 
itself before her eyes. While awaiting Mr. 
Hintner’s appearance, she read the article 
again. The print was not that of the daily. 
She discovered that an odd copy of an exchange 
had been put in by mistake. This was the 
Daily Record of a city on the border of the 
Great Lakes. 

“It’s just luck,” she exclaimed. “How 
strange that some one made that mistake three 
years ago and now it may save Aunt Debby a 
great deal. It’s luck — No, it is more what 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 255 


Helen Loraine calls providential. Providence 
is looking after Annt Debby’s interest.” 

Sbe moved from desk to door, where she 
stood and looked up and down the street hoping 
to catch a glimpse of Mr. Hintner’s green car. 
There was really but a delay of a few minutes, 
but to Hester it seemed like hours. She could 
not tell whether it were morning or afternoon. 
She had forgotten entirely that there was such 
a time as lunch hour. 

At last he came. He was calm and serene. 
He had not the faintest idea that Hester’s find 
was worth the trouble of coming a square for. 

“Miss Hester Alden, good morning,” he said 
as he entered the office. “I came here to tell 
you that there are times when it is difficult for 
a lawyer to leave his office at the call of a little 
schoolgirl. I have a few moments before going 
to lunch. Where is the gold mine? I judged 
from your excitement that it was a gold mine, 
or was it diamonds?” 

Hester was indifferent to his raillery. She 
was standing by the desk with her hands resting 
on the open file of papers. “Here, Mr. Hint- 
ner, please read this.” 


256 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


“Some of your own literary effusions, per- 
haps,” he said, crossing the room to where she 
stood, “You must remember. Miss Hester Al- 
den, that I am a lawyer merely, not a literary 
critic.” 

He bent forward to look at the paper. The 
instant his eyes fell upon the face of the woman 
and the man pictured there he grew interested. 
He reached to draw forward a chair. He seated 
himself and without a word to Hester read and 
reread the two columns. When satisfied that 
he imderstood what was written there, he took 
out a notebook and wrote the addresses which 
appeared in the account. 

He forgot that Hester stood near waiting to 
hear his opinion. His mind was bent on get- 
ting the facts as they appeared in print. Then 
without a word to Hester, he got up and hurried 
into the private office. Mr. MacMurray was 
just about to leave, for it was now past noon 
and he had an engagement for lunch. 

“Mac, there’s a paper out here which I must 
have. It means a great deal in a ease I have 
on hand.” 

“Can’t break the files,” was the reply. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 257 


“Copy all you wish, but the papers must not 
leave the office.” 

“This particular number means nothing to 
you, Mao. It’s not one of your issues.” He 
told him then that a mistake bad been made in 
filing and that the Record file contained a copy 
of a Record issued from one of the cities in the 
middle west. 

“If that’s the case you may take it, but I 
must see to it myself.” Mr. MacMurray came 
into the general office and looked over the file. 

“That’s a piece of careless work,” he said. 
“This must be taken out.” He slipped the odd 
issue from the filing clasp. “You can take it 
along if it’s any use to you.” 

“It is,” said Mr. Hintner. He took the pa- 
per, folded it into a convenient size, and slipped 
it into an inner pocket. “If you’re going home, 
Mac, I’ll drive you down. My car and man are 
at the door.” 

Mac accepted and the two men went their 
way. Hester stood looking after them. Mr. 
Hintner had not even thanked her for finding 
the paper and calling his attention to it. For 
an instant she was hurt. Before he had called. 


258 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


she had been quite buoyant in spirits. Now, 
the mercury had gone down. Hester was a wise 
young girl after all. She considered a moment 
and then said, “I’m very silly to let any one 
make me miserable. I’m very glad I found 
what I did. I’m glad for Aunt Debby’s sake 
and I do not care whether Mr. Hintner thanked 
me or not.” 

To the casual reader the newspaper article 
which Hester had found was of little interest. 
It was dated from Hamilton, a small city on the 
northern border of Lake Michigan. The paper 
was more than three years old. The town was 
named from a family of that name who were 
the original settlers. They had taken up large 
tracts of farm land, and were land rich. 
Twenty-five years before, the only son, Dick 
Hamilton, had gone into the southwest to try 
his luck in the silver mines. He had taken a 
large amount of money with him with the idea 
of buying an interest in mining companies. All 
trace of him had been lost. His family gave 
him up as dead. In the meantime, the middle 
west was building up rapidly. Eailroads were 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 259 


increasing and manufactories were springing 
up everywhere. Iron ore was discovered in the 
northern peninsula of Michigan. The Hamil- 
ton family owned great tracts of the iron-ore 
land. At this point a woman and young girl 
appeared as the wife and daughter of Dick Ham- 
ilton. The claimant had all manner of papers 
to prove her right. A settlement was about to 
be made in her favor when a flaw was found. 
The settlement was delayed for a time. The 
woman, feeling that she was suspected, disap- 
peared with her daughter. The Hamilton fam- 
ily later found that she was an impostor and 
was working in company with a lawyer in their 
city who was really her husband. 

So far the account was interesting reading 
because of the similarity between it and the 
Alden case. What made it vitally interesting 
to Hester was that the description and picture 
of the woman were those of her who called her- 
self Mrs. Ezra Alden. 

Hester hurried home to tell Dehhy Alden of 
the article in the paper. Dehhy had gone to 
much trouble to prepare for dinner such dishes 


260 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


whicli Hester was particularly fond of, but Hes- 
ter was so excited that she could not eat, but 
talked fast and with a show of excitement. 

“Hester,” said Debby after a few moments, 
during which the girl’s tongue had not ceased, 
“Hester, you have permitted yourself to be- 
come greatly excited. Now, I shall not listen 
to another word until you have become calm 
and eaten your dinner. The breaded veal is 
particularly nice and I made apple sauce ex- 
pressly for you. Now, please keep quiet and 
eat slowly. After dinner, you may talk to your 
heart’s content.” 

Hester forced herself to eat. She knew she 
would not be permitted to tell her story until 
she had made a pretense of eating. She had 
no appetite. The excitement of the morning 
had taken hunger with it. By mere exercise 
of will she ate a piece of breaded veal and dis- 
posed of a slice of bread and jelly, which Debby 
looked upon as a necessity in rearing children. 
Hester had not outgrown the bread and jelly 
age. 

“Aunt Debby, I have really eaten my din- 
ner. Please may I talk? If you knew all 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 261 


I have to tell, you would not have permitted 
me to taste a bite until I had said the last 
word.” 

“That time would never come, Hester. You 
would never reach the last word. You’ve done 
very well as far as dinner is concerned. Now, 
proceed and ease your mind.” 

Hester needed no second invitation. She be- 
gan at once and told Debby Alden all that had 
occurred that morning, and of Mr. Hintner’s 
visit. She repeated the description which the 
paper had given and spoke of the picture. 

Debby listened without a word. There was 
a stiffening of her back and her head was just 
a little higher than before, but otherwise she 
made no show of feeling. She knew Hester’s 
excitable nature. It was not always wise to 
encourage Hester in her flights of imagination. 
Miss Debby assumed a calm and non-committal 
manner. 

“It sounds very interesting, Hester, but 
newspaper photographs all look alike to me. 
The best of them are not good likenesses, and 
as to the description, that may be as some young 
reporter gave it. To my way of thinking, it 


262 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


is barely possible that tbe same people would 
attempt such a scheme a second time; besides, 
the Alden estate is not a wealthy one. Half 
of it would not attract a set of tricksters. Peo- 
ple who are guilty of such work would be on 
the lookout for more than you or I could give 
them.” 

That was a reasonable statement. Hester 
was nonplussed for the time. She had imag- 
ined a great many wonderful things since find- 
ing the newspaper. Now, she was brought 
down to plain facts. 

“Mr. Hintner thought there was something 
in it, ” she said. ‘ ‘ He was very much interested 
and took the paper off with him. ” 

“Did he say that he thought it meant some- 
thing to us? Did he say, Hester, that there 
was something in it?” 

Hester hesitated before replying. She knew 
that her Aunt Debby had no sympathy from 
statements which were based on impressions. 
Miss Debby preferred facts to fiction. 

“No, Aunt Debby, he did not say so ; but why 
should he take the paper away if he did not 
think it worth while?” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 263 


“There may be many reasons. Man is not 
without natural curiosity.” 

Debby Alden dropped the subject from the 
conversation. Jane Orr bad run in for a few 
moments to ask for a catalogue which Hester 
bad brought from Dickinson Seminary. Jane 
bad decided not to return to the High School. 
Her heart longed for Dickinson, she bad told 
Miss Debby. The conversation at the table be- 
tween aunt and niece turned on the coming 
schooldays, and for the time, the unsettled con- 
dition of the Alden finances were forgotten. 

Mr. Hintner, however, had not put the subject 
from his mind. Before he returned to his of- 
fice in the afternoon he had decided upon a 
course of action. He would bring the case to 
a head within a week and have it off his hands, 
and the results should all be in favor of his 
clients. 

Upon entering his office, he sent at once for 
Amos Kelly. This man held a unique position 
with the firm of Hintner and Hendig. He was 
a molder in the iron shops. He knew no law as 
lawyers know it. His education was limited. 
He knew men, however. He was rarely de- 


264 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


ceived. He read character as Mr. Hintner read 
books. He possessed the faculty of seeing mat- 
ters in their true relation ; he classed things cor- 
rectly. 

On more than one occasion he had come to 
the assistance of the lawyers. He enjoyed a 
trip of a few days, and the fee tendered him 
was really worth while. 

Mr. Hintner told him only enough of the cir- 
cumstances that he might not work blindly. 
“What you are to do, Amos, is to visit the town 
named in the article and find out concerning 
these people. If in your judgment they are 
the same people we are dealing with, you’re to 
bring down some member of the Hamilton fam- 
ily and an officer who understood the situation 
there. This is Tuesday. You should have the 
matter settled one way or the other and be here 
Monday or before. Telegraph me when you 
leave there. Take a closed cab with your 
guests to the Holmes House and keep them out 
of sight imtil I talk with you. ’ ’ 

There was a further talk concerning the 
financial part of the trip. Amos Kelly left that 
afternoon on the flyer for the north. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 265 


Saturday evening a message came to Mr. 
Hintner that Amos and his friends would ar- 
rive in town on the midnight train Sunday. 
That meant success. Mr. Hintner set about ar- 
ranging the details for the final meeting. 

He wrote to the firm of Miller and Woodin 
requesting that they send their representative 
to confer with him the following Tuesday. He 
also requested that they send with him all com- 
munications which had passed between the 
agents. 

A letter to Conrad and Westerleigh was also 
dictated. It asked that one of the firm with 
their clients in the Alden vs. Alden ease would 
confer with Hintner and Hendig at the latter’s 
office Tuesday afternoon at three o ’clock. The 
third person to be remembered was Miss Alden 
herself. She was to bring Hester with her, and 
was to be there promptly at quarter of three. 
This being accomplished, Mr. Hintner could do 
nothing more until Amos Kelly and his friends 
arrived. Further details of the case depended 
upon what news they could bring him. 

Amos and his friends could verify the news- 
paper account. Mrs. Hamilton, a relative of the 


266 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Dick Hamilton whose name figured in the news- 
paper account, had volunteered to accompany 
Amos home and identify these people if it were 
possible. The Chief of Police of the town came 
also. He had been looking for these people for 
three years. 

Mr. Hintner did not wish them to come to his 
office until he had arranged matters as he de- 
sired. He visited them at the hotel, and after 
a lengthy conference decided upon the details of 
the final meeting. Amos with his friends were 
to be at Mr. Hintner ’s office some time before 
three o’clock the following afternoon. 

“It is very probable that these are the same 
people who annoyed us,” Mrs. Hamilton said 
at the close of the interview. “At the time 
Dick Hamilton went west there were hundreds 
of other young men of good family and money 
who had left their homes to speculate or work 
in the silver and gold mines. A great number 
died there. It was an easy matter to find their 
families in the east. There were always letters 
and pictures left behind them. That is the way 
this woman learned of us. Dick died and left 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 267 

papers and letters whicli had been sent from 
home.” 

“I do not doubt that this so-called Mrs. Ezra 
Alden secured her material in the same way. 
Ezra, she says, boarded with her mother when 
he first came to Silver City,” was Mr. Hint- 
ner’s reply. 

“I shall have my friends call on you to-mor- 
row at two o’clock,” said Amos, as Mr. Hint- 
ner was about to withdraw. “I promise you 
that I shall keep them under cover until that 
time.” 


CHAPTEE XIII 



LTHOUGrH Mr. Hintner had spoken en- 


couragingly of the settlement of the Al- 
den estate, Miss Debby was not so hopeful. She 
had decided some time before that Alice Harp- 
ster was really her brother’s wife, and had Mr. 
Hintner not restrained her, she would have set- 
tled the matter at once, sharing equally the real 
estate and the household furnishings. Miss 
Debby had made a mental inventory of every 
article which belonged to the Aldens or Pal- 
mers. There were piles of bedclothes in the 
spare room. Debby touched these with loving 
fingers. The coverlets, as she called them, were 
of reds, greens, and purples in quaint old de- 
signs. Grrandmother Alden had spun and 
carded the wool herself. She had made an out- 
fit for every son and daughter, but eventually 
they had come into the possession of Debby’s 
father. There were sheets of heavy linen 


268 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 269 


which the same hands had made ready for the 
loom, and weaved and bleached. 

There were quilts of patchwork which Debby 
had seen her own mother patch and quilt. They 
were of many designs, and the patches told the 
history of the Alden family. There were scraps 
of the babies’ first slips; the boys’ little shirts, 
or the school frocks of the girls ’. A patch or 
more for each year of their life until the wed- 
ding gown or grave robe was worn. 

Debby Alden loved these, not for any ma- 
terial value in them, but for the sentiment that 
clung to them like the delicate fragrance of 
sweet grass. She saw in each stitch a mother’s 
fingers and a mother ’s dreams and hopes. They 
were dear to her and, had she had her wish, she 
would have kept every one of them. Yet her 
sense of justice was stronger than sentiment. 
Had Ezra lived, half of all these would have 
been his. Half then belonged rightfully to his 
wife and daughter. Debby Alden pressed her 
lips together to keep back the tears. She had 
no tolerance for a creature governed only by 
the emotions. She would best show her love 
to her mother by being just. She put aside all 


270 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


personal feeling in the matter and began a regu- 
lar assortment of the wealth of the spare room. 

She had divided the linen, piece by piece, into 
two piles which were almost identical in quan- 
tity and quality. She was about to begin on 
the coverlets when Hester came in with the note 
from Mr. Hintner. She read it and then slipped 
it into her belt without a word to Hester. There 
was no need for Hester to concern herself until 
the matter was settled. 

Hester was so engrossed in her own affairs 
that she did not observe that Debhy was anx- 
ious. 

“It’s stifling hot up here. Aunt Debhy,” she 
cried. “Come out and sit under the apple-tree. 
I’ve been talking with Jane. She came down 
purposely to walk home with me. She had such 
a lot to tell me. Do come. Auntie, and sit out- 
side. "Whatever possessed you to work at this 
to-day? Are you going to pack some away? 
I’ll help you if you’ll wait until it is cooler. 
Don’t bother with dinner. Can’t you and I 
take something to eat outside?” 

"While she chatted, Hester had drawn Debhy 
outside the room and on down the broad old- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 271 


fashioned stairway. Debby bad been so far in 
the past that she bad forgotten the present. 

‘‘It is almost twelve o’clock,” she said as 
her eyes fell on the ball clock. “I bad no idea 
it was so late. Hester, I haven’t the slightest 
sign of a dinner — ^not even a lunch. I’m sure 
that this is the first time in my life that this has 
happened. How mother would have been pro- 
voked at my doing such a thing. That.’s what 
always comes of letting one’s wits go wool-gath- 
ering. ’ ’ 

“I’ll see to lunch. Aunt Debby. Let’s have a 
picnic. You sit out there and I’ll arrange the 
tray. ’ ’ Debby was in such a state of mind that 
she was only too glad to be alone and think. 
Without a word she obeyed Hester and went 
out to the shade of the sweet apple tree. She 
sat and looked at the house. She would not 
complain if she could retain that. She was 
born there and her father before her. Every 
room held memories which were sacred. All 
the members of her family except Ezra had been 
carried from the front door to be laid to rest. 
Every member of the family had been baptized 
in the “parlor” when the circuit rider made his 


272 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


visits. The old hushes and trees. She remem- 
bered how Jim Baker and she used to pick the 
lilies-of-the-valley which overspread the corner 
near the road. Jim Baker always — Miss Debby 
aroused herself and shut up her memories like 
a trap-door, as she always did the instant her 
mind dwelt on rosy-cheeked, blue-eyed Jim 
Baker. She always blushed for herself when- 
ever her fancy dwelt on him. She thought of 
the other schoolboys who had coasted and snow- 
balled their way to school with her. She 
thought of them as a matter of course. Debby 
did not analyze her feelings to discover why 
she was provoked with herself whenever she 
thought of Jim Baker. 

The note from Mr. Hintner had asked her to 
call with Hester at the office that afternoon. 
His letter ended ambiguously. “We might as 
well close up the matter at once.” That meant 
to cut in two her land, her home, and almost her 
heartstrings. 

Within the house Hester was not looking for 
trouble or going more than half-way to meet it. 
She was as happy as a lark or a domesticated 
kitten. Indeed, she seemed more like the lat- 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 273 


ter, for she purred a happy little song as she 
went about preparing the lunch. There was 
cold veal from yesterday’s roast. She cut sev- 
eral thin slices of these and arranged them on 
a plate and stuck several bright spicy-stemmed 
nasturtiums between. It was quite artistic and 
she stepped aside and viewed it at a distance 
with a feeling of pride. She cut dainty sand- 
wiches of bread and butter. There were straw- 
berry preserves in a quaint old blue and gold 
dish. She put on the tray a glass of milk for 
herself. For Aunt Debby she made a cup of 
coffee. 

She was pleased with the appearance of the 
tray and with herself for doing it. The rich 
blue of the china and the deep orange of the 
flowers was quite effective. 

Hester had placed the tray on the kitchen 
table. She stepped back and studied it 
seriously for several seconds. “I don’t see 
how it could look nicer,” she decided. Taking 
it up, she carried it out to Aunt Debby who 
sat, concerned and anxious, under the shade of 
the sweet apple tree. 

The sight of the blue china brought the 


274 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


trouble back to Debby’s mind. It was one of 
tbe things which belonged to the estate. As 
far back as Debby could remember, it had 
been kept in the corner cupboard with glass 
doors. The term, “china closet” was not 
given in the old days to such an article. 

Debby raised her head proudly. She would 
not grieve over matters beyond her control, 
neither would she disappoint Hester in not 
partaking of the lunch. The Alden blood came 
to the front. Debby thrust her own troubles 
from her mind, smiled at Hester, and praised 
the effect of her efforts. 

Then with the gayest manner possible, she 
ate the delicate sandwiches and laughed and 
chatted about Jane Orr’s going to school. 

When the lunch had been disposed of, 
Debby turned to Hester. “Mr. Hintner wrote 
me that you and I should call at his office this 
afternoon. You had better go and ask Mr. 
MacMurray to excuse you a few minutes after 
two o’clock. I shall call for you and we can 
see Mr. Hmtner together.” 

“Then I had better go at once,” cried Hes- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 275 


ter gayly. ‘‘I can finish what work I began 
this morning.” 

“Eun along. I shall put away the dishes 
and change my frock.” She was wearing a 
one-piece working-dress of pink gingham, the 
neck of which was turned in, displaying 
Debby’s firm white throat. Hester was about 
to say that she thought the gingham was quite 
pretty and that its wearer looked sweet 
enough to go anywhere when an indefinable 
something in the woman’s eyes restrained her. 
Debby was not in a mood for fine speeches. 

Hester caught up her big flapping hat from 
where she had tossed it on the grass and 
started forth. An hour later Debby called for 
her and they went together to Mr. Hintner’s 
office. During the walk there Debby Alden 
made a heroic effort to control herself and not 
give way to worry and despondency. 

Hester kept up a running conversation. She 
had not asked why Mr. Hintner had sent for 
them. She was young enough and happy 
enough to beheve that the future was all sun- 
shine and roses. If Mr. Hiutner wished to 


276 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


see them it was because he had some good 
news to impart. That was Hester’s mental 
attitude. Debby allowed her to chatter on 
without giving her a hint that in a few hours 
their home would no longer be theirs. 

Debby found Mr. Hintner as light-hearted 
as Hester. She was just a little annoyed. 
She felt that he might have shown a little 
sympathy. 

“Good afternoon, Miss Alden,” he said 
directly. “I sent for you and all the other 
parties concerned. I concluded that the 
business might as well be ended now. No use 
in dragging it over months and months of 
time.” 

He drew forward chairs for her and Hester, 
but before they were seated he turned and in- 
troduced two other persons in the room. One 
was a dainty little woman of middle age. Hes- 
ter looked at her closely. She wondered where 
she had heard the name Mrs. Eussell Ham- 
ilton before. She had forgotten the old news- 
paper which she had found among the files. 
The other person was a Mr. Peter Hitchcock. 
He was a big, handsome man in a well-made 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 277 


business suit of gray. His eyes were keen and 
penetrating. Hester felt berself trembling 
before Mm. Scarcely bad tbis introduction 
been made when tbe office boy opened tbe door 
to admit two men. Hester’s eyes opened 
wide. They were tbe two persons wbo bad 
been with Jim Bates in tbe ravine and wbo bad 
been discussing options and reports. One 
was a Mr. Woodin and tbe other Ms legal ad- 
viser, sbe learned. 

“We are all bere except tbe other people,” 
said Mr. Hintner. “I appointed a late hour 
for them. I have discussed tbe matter tbor- 
ougMy with you gentlemen, and you under- 
stand tbe position I am about to take. It is 
now about time for Conrad and Westerleigb to 
appear with their client. I’ll ask you gentle- 
men and Mrs. Hamilton to pass into tbe inner 
office. Leave tbe door ajar, please. Listen all 
you wish.” 

“No need to tell me that,” said Mr. Hitch- 
cock. “I came bere for that purpose.” He 
arose and moved into tbe inner office. Tbe 
fire-clay man and bis attorney, with Mrs. Ham- 
ilton, followed. Debby Alden was dazed in 


278 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


anticipation of what she felt she must go 
through. She barely grasped all that Mr. 
Hintner had said. When the others rose to 
leave the office, she was about to follow when 
Mr. Hintner addressed her. 

“I wish you to remain here, Miss Alden. I 
know this is a trying position for you, but it 
will soon he over. I shall make it as easy for 
you as possible. I brought the matter to a 
head sooner than I had planned, because I 
knew you must be laboring at a disadvantage. 
All I wish you and Hester to do this afternoon 
is to sit and listen, unless I ask you a question. 
Do not pay any attention to what any one else 
asks, unless I repeat it to you.” 

’ To sit and listen. Surely, that seemed easy 
enough, but to Debby Alden it was torture. 
Hester, however, did not fully grasp the situa- 
tion. She did not know to what all this 
tended, besides, she had that gift which can 
make of all things what it will. The office and 
Mr. Hintner and even Debby Alden passed 
from Hester’s mind. She was picturing 
things as they would be a few years later 
when she would have won a reputation as a 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 279 


novelist. She saw herself hurrying down the 
path at the Alden home, bearing her laurel 
wreath for Miss Debby’s pleasure. The wait- 
ing-time was not tedious to her. 

Mr. Hintner called his office hoy and, hand- 
ing him a note, requested him to find that 
person at the address and to deliver it into his 
own hands. 

It was just a few minutes later that Mr. 
Conrad with his clients entered. The lawyer 
was thin and wiry, with keen black eyes. He was 
a witty man, always ready to tell a good joke 
or ready to listen. He was most companiona- 
ble. The hours passed quickly in his company, 
albeit his dress was careless, his hands more 
or less grimy, and his nails in mourning. He 
came in cheerily with a nod and a bright word 
for all. 

‘‘Glad to see that you’re showing good com- 
mon sense, Horace,” he said, “in settling this 
matter at once. No use of dragging it through 
the courts and wasting the whole estate in try- 
ing to save it. You’re sensible.” 

“Compliment me at the end of the service,” 
said Mr. Hintner, waving him to a seat. “I 


280 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


wish to ask this lady client of yours a few ques- 
tions with your permission.” 

“Certainly — certainly. We’re not afraid of 
anything.” 

“When were you last at Silver City, Mrs. 
Alden?” he asked. 

She gave the date without hesitation. She 
had evidently had it well fixed in her mind. It 
agreed with that fixed by the old dame with 
whom Mr. Hintner had talked while on his trip 
west. 

“Your husband was with you on that trip? 
I have just returned from Silver City. The 
people told me you and your husband had come 
back to attend your mother’s funeral. They 
could not remember your husband’s name. I 
asked several if it was Alden, but they could 
not tell me. Mr. Alden was with you then?” 
He looked directly at her. 

“Yes, he was,” she said. Again she did not 
hesitate. Her manner was that of one who has 
right on her side and fears nothing. Her 
daughter, on the contrary, was most uneasy. 
She fidgeted in her chair and twisted her gloves 
nervously in her hands. Her eyes looked as 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 281 


thougli she had been weeping, and her expres- 
sion was that of one who would burst into tears 
at the slightest provocation, 

Mr. Hintner was well-pleased with the 
woman’s reply. Taking up a notebook, he 
turned the leaves. “I copied the inscription 
from your mother’s tomb. I have here the date 
of her death. I have also that of Ezra Alden’s. 
I do not ask you to trust my notes. I have a 
signed statement from a Justice of the Peace 
in Silver City who examined the stones.” He 
passed the papers to Mr. Conrad. “You see 
Ezra Alden had been dead some time previous 
to the date when your client says he was with 
her at her mother’s funeral.” 

Mrs. Alden was about to speak when Mr. 
Hintner silenced her by a gesture of his hand. 
“There is really no need to become alarmed. 
I would not say your ease was worthless on such 
evidence as that.” He leaned back in his chair 
and looked at Mrs. Alden with a half -quizzical, 
half-amused look, which was not at all that of 
the legal man of business. 

“This claim of yours brings to my mind a 
similar one which was brought up some years 


282 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


ago. This may seem a little off the line of 
business which I called you here to attend to, 
but it’s interesting. It happened up in Michi- 
gan — ” 

Mrs. Alden gave a start. A frightened look 
came to her eyes, but she was reassured by Mr. 
Hintner’s indifferent manner. He was telling 
the tale as though it had no bearing on this case 
whatever. 

He continued. Each incident of the Hamil- 
ton affair was told in detail. He explained how 
the claimant had forged a marriage certificate, 
signing the name of a man long since dead. 
The witnesses were people who were in the 
scheme with her. 

His listeners were moved differently by this 
recital. Debby Alden began to see through his 
purpose. Hester was filled with triumph. The 
paper which she had foxmd was really worth 
while after all. Mr. Conrad was visibly bored. 
He enjoyed a story in its proper place, but he 
was a busy man, and an hour cut from his day 
meant much to him. He was annoyed that he 
had left his own office to confer with Mr. Hint- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 283 


ner. He would learn a lesson and hereafter let 
the other man do the coming. 

Mrs. Alden sat upright in her chair. Her big 
hat drooped over a mass of yellow hair. Her 
hands in soiled white gloves were clasped 
rigidly in her lap. The only sign of nervous- 
ness she showed was in biting her under lip. 

Mr. Hintner finished his story. Then turn- 
ing his head in the direction of the private 
office, he requested Mrs. Hamilton and Mr. 
Hitchcock to step out. The instant they ap- 
peared in the doorway, the girl called Deborah 
began to shake with sobs. 

“I told you, Mother. I begged you not to. 
I’m sick. Oh, I’m so sick of it all! Why can’t 
we he decent like other people.” 

“Deborah!” said her mother sternly. 

“That’s not my name and you know it is not. 
Don’t call me by it. It’s stolen like everything 
else. I’m sick of it all. I never wanted to 
come here. Oh, I do wish I was dead! WThy 
can’t I die when it’s only a shame to live?” 

There was no acting with her. All control 
had been swept away. She was just a shame- 


284 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


stricken, homeless young girl, who was heart- 
sick with the things which had been forced into 
her life. 

The tears sprang to Debby Alden’s eyes. 
Crossing the room, she knelt beside the girl’s 
chair and put her arms about the crushed figure. 

“There, there. Everything is coming right. 
No one blames you. We’re just sorry, that’s 
all. You had nothing to do with it.” 

“When I saw your home, Miss Alden, I did 
want — Oh, how I did want to live in a place like 
that. I’ve never had a real home. Yours was 
so lovely and big and homelike, and your girl 
was happy.” 

She shook with sobs and tears were on her 
cheeks. While Debby Alden sought to comfort 
her, Mr. Hintner was continuing the work in 
hand. 

Mr. Conrad had lost his bored expression. 
He had had faith in his client and believed that 
she was the widow of Ezra Alden. He had no 
intention of assisting her now when her daugh- 
ter’s words had proven her an impostor. 

Mrs. Hamilton stood in the doorway. Mr. 
Hintner turned to her. “Will you be kind 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 285 


enougli to look at this woman, Mrs. Hamilton, 
and tell me if yon have ever seen her before and 
under what circumstances?” 

Mrs. Hamilton moved forward and looked 
directly into the face of her who called herself 
Mrs. Alden. Then she said, “I saw her three 
years ago in Hamilton. She was there for some 
months. I talked with her a number of times 
and saw her frequently in public. She told me 
there that she was Mrs. Eiehard Hamilton, the 
widow of my husband’s brother.” 

“You would swear to the statements you 
have just made, Mrs. Hamilton?” 

“Most assuredly; any time it is asked of me,” 
she replied. 

“And you, Mr. Hitchcock?” asked Mr. 
Hintner. The big man moved lazily forward. 
His manner suggested that there was plenty of 
time and that no one need hurry. 

“I’m very glad to meet the lady,” he said 
with a bow in the direction of Alice Harpster. 
“I have been coveting that pleasure for three 
years. Indeed, I’ve traveled almost a thousand 
miles to meet her. The people up in Hamilton 
have asked me to bring her back with me. ’ ’ 


286 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Mr. Conrad groaned aloud. “How did you 
discover tMs, Hintner? I confess you misled 
me. I came here under the impression that 
there was to be a ‘divy’ of property. I’ll tell 
you one thing, I was misled from the begin- 
ning. I believed the case was 0. K. or I 
wouldn’t have meddled with it. You’ll believe 
it, Miss Alden?” 

“Yes, I do,” said Debby. 

Mr. Hintner turned to him with a similar as- 
surance. While this had been goiag on Alice 
Harpster sat upright, defiant, indifferent, but 
not conquered. She was like an animal at bay. 
Nothing she would say could alter the facts 
against her, but she could maintain a stolid, de- 
fiant silence and she did that. 

Mr. Hitchcock had barely finished speaking 
when the office boy appeared at the doorway. 

“The gentleman you wished to see is here, 
sir,” he said. 

“He arrived upon the wish,” said Mr. Hint- 
ner. “Show him in, Henry.” 

Henry immediately flung wide the door and 
Mr. Bates stepped within. He looked about 
him, his glance moving from Alice Harpster 


. HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 287 


around the circle until it fell upon the man, 
Hitchcock. Then he stepped backward and 
would have left the room, had not Mr. Conrad 
stepped between him and the door. 

“I don’t know what is wanted of you. Bates,” 
he said, “but I’ll see to it that you stay a 
while.” 

“Be seated, Mr. Bates,” said Mr. Hintner, 
with a characteristic movement of his hand 
toward a chair. “I sent for you concerning 
that business with Miller and Woodin. What 
offer did they make you for the clay rights on 
the land?” 

“Since you know so much, find out the rest 
for yourself,” retorted Bates. 

“That’s what I am trying to do,” said Mr. 
Hintner good-naturedly. He could afford to 
laugh now. The affair was in his hands. 
There was no danger of losing anything. 
“Since you will not give me the information, I 
must get it from the other party to the trans- 
action.” He raised his voice slightly, “Mr. 
Woodin, if you would be kind enough.” 

“Only too glad to serve you, I’m sure,” said 
that gentleman, coming in from the private 


288 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


office. He was genial, smiling, bland. When 
his eyes rested on the man Bates, he nodded 
pleasantly. “How are you. Bates? Hot 
weather we’re having.” 

It was hot for Bates, if for no one else. At 
the sight of Mr. Woodin, great drops of sweat 
stood on his forehead. He had been standing, 
but now he sank into a chair as though from ex- 
haustion. The woman turned a withering 
glance of contempt upon him for his show of 
weakness. 

“If you have no objections, Mr. Woodin, 
will you tell us of the option given to you on 
clay lands for which Mr. Bates was acting as 
agent?” 

Bates held up a hand to restrain him. 
“What’s the use of carrying the thing further? 
I’m not a cat to lap up milk that’s been spilled. 
The game’s up. I confess to it. Why carry 
the thing further and make it melodramatic? 
It’s all a farce.” He turned to the woman who 
sat erect in her chair. “Well, Alice, it does 
seem that you can’t be a rich man’s widow, so 
you’ll have to content yourself with being Jim 
Bates’s wife.” He had not observed his 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 289 


daughter, who was leaning against DebbyAlden. 
When he did so, his face softened. ‘ ‘ Poor little 
girl,” he said. “I’m sorry for you. I wish 
this thing had turned out right for your sake. 
I’m sorry, little one, I’m sorry.” 

“I knew you would be,” she said. She left 
Debby’s side and went to her father, clinging 
close to him. “I know you’re sorry. You’ve 
been sorry all along, but somehow you couldn’t 
help it. You know you always did mean well, 
but you always did what other people told you 
to.” 

She slipped down on her knees beside him. 
Her head rested against his arm, and he patted 
it tenderly and smoothed the tangled mass with 
loving hands. Both were indifferent or had 
forgotten the presence of the others. They 
were only a heart-broken little girl and a re- 
pentant and grief-stricken father trying to con- 
sole each other. 

The eyes of every man there filled with tears. 
Big Peter Hitchcock turned his back and walked 
to the window where he stood staring and blink- 
ing up at a blank wall opposite him. 

After a few minutes he turned and faced Jim 


290 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


Bates. “Well, Jim, what’s to be done about 
it?” 

‘ ‘ The only thing that can be done. I suppose 
you want me for that Hamilton affair. It’s a 
case of fraud, nothing more. I suppose I can 
get bail?” 

“But you’ve got to go there to get it,” said 
the officer. 

“It is as you say. I’m in the hands of my 
friends.” He spoke lightly. Then he looked 
down at his daughter. “But the little girl, 
Pete! What about her? She had nothing to 
do with it. We just forced her to keep her 
mouth shut.” 

“I’ll stay here. I won’t go back there and 
meet the girls I know and were my friends. 
I’ll work and take care of myself. I’ll do some- 
thing; it will be honest, though. I’m sick of 
hiding and skulking about. I can work. I’ll 
be a servant. I’ll wash for people; I’ll do any- 
thing but go through with this again.” 

She sobbed hysterically and clung to her 
father and he soothed her as best he could. 

Hebby Alden, high-bred, immaculate in white 
linen, standing as erect and dignified as became 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENINe 291 


one who had blue blood and blue blood only in 
her veins, looked on in silence. From the depth 
of her soul she despised deceit, intrigue, and 
lies. She loathed the people who were capable 
of them. She looked on for a while, then she 
spoke. “The girl of course cannot go with her 
parents. They are criminals and the law will 
consider them such. She can be with me for a 
time. The old house has always had room for 
one more, and the Aldens have never turned a 
needy stranger from their doors. I’ll keep her 
until she finds some suitable means of caring 
for herself. 

“Come, bid your people good-by. You must 
come home with me now.” 

“Yes, go with Miss Alden, Bess,” her father 
said, with an effort at self-control. He loosed 
her arms from about his neck and turned away 
that he might not see her leave. 


CHAPTEE XIV 


46T KNEW she would do just that thing,” 

J- said Mr. Hintner when Debby and Hes- 
ter, with the stranger, had left the oflSce. 
“From the hour that I knew how this affair 
was going to turn out, I felt sorry for the girl. 
One could see that she was not in the affair 
from choice. I used to study her face. It 
made my heart ache to see so much unhappiness 
in a young person. I was more concerned in 
her future than I was in saving the Alden es- 
tate. The latter I was sure of ; the former was 
uncertain. Then I thought of Miss Debby. 
That is why I had her here this afternoon. I 
knew she would rise to the occasion. She’s 
economical and must know where every penny 
goes. She always has something laid by for a 
rainy day and she uses it when the rainy day 
comes, although it is always some one else’s 
rainy day rather than her own.” 

Mr. Conrad nodded. Words had failed him. 

292 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 293 


The events of the last hour had been so unex- 
pected and had come so suddenly upon him that 
he could do no more than nod his head to affirm 
or deny. 

Mr. Hintner had not finished his interview 
with Jim Bates, but he did not wish Hester and 
Debby to hear the discussion. There was no 
reason why the old subject concerning Hester’s 
family should be brought up in their hearing; 
yet Mr. Hintner himself wished to be satisfied 
in regard to the conversation which Hester had 
overheard in the train three months before. 

“What about this Rose Walton and Phil 
Williams you and your friend were talking 
about?” was the question which Mr. Hintner 
put directly to him. 

Jim laughed. He made no pretense of keep- 
ing anything back. “There were two courses 
we might work out. We had learned how this 
aunt cared for the adopted girl. We were 
going to prove Phil was her father. Miss 
Alden, if she felt sure, would buy Phil off at 
his own price. We intended working that if 
the other matter didn’t come to a head, or if 
Miss Alden discovered the value of the land 


294 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


which she always considered worthless.” He 
paused a moment. “Then there was a reward 
offered for any knowledge of the whereabouts 
of a colored woman and a little white baby. 
We came quite by accident across it in a paper. 
The woman’s name was Rosa Williams. The 
paper was sixteen or seventeen years old, hut 
we found that the people who had offered the 
reward were living at the same place they were 
then and they had never found their child. 
This girl, that Miss Alden has, is about the 
same age and she didn’t look unlike the people 
who put in the advertisement. Phil meant to 
claim her and then later communicate with these 
people.” 

He laughed again. “It was a nicely planned 
scheme,” he said. “The only trouble was that 
it couldn’t he worked.” 

Mr. Hintner looked at him in surprise. The 
man had shown feeling at the distress of his 
daughter. Now he was indifferent. He lacked 
all moral sense. He felt little shame at the 
prospects which were before him. He was 
without stability even in wrong-doing. His 
wife, who had the will and determination of half 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 295 


a dozen men, looked at kim in contempt. She 
had not moved or said a word since she knew 
herself to be trapped. 

Dehby Alden had returned home in a joyous 
state of mind, although she had taken a great 
responsibility upon her shoulders. 

The new girl, Elizabeth Bates, had not spoken 
until they entered the house. Then her eyes 
filled with tears. She sat and looked about the 
living-room, fragrant with the atmosphere of 
home. When she caught Miss Debhy’s eyes 
upon her, she said simply, “It seems like 
heaven. You know I never had a real home.” 

After the evening meal was over, Hester 
turned to Debhy. “Auntie, I promised to help 
you with your work in the guest chamber. It is 
cool now. Do you wish to finish the work?” 

“No, Hester, that work need not be done,” 
she said. There was a joyous note in her voice 
and her face wore an expression that was new 
to her. It was as though her spirit celebrated a 
day of thanksgiving, content, upliftment. 

So the affair was settled nicely before Helen 
Loraine came down on the flyer Thursday 
afternoon. Jane and Hester went to meet her. 


296 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


Mary Bowerman had been invited but had re- 
fused. 

“I’m not going to run after her and make a 
lot of her just because she’s rich.” 

“We do not wish you to do it for that rea- 
son,” said Jane. “We don’t wish you to run 
after her at all. We want you to be kind and 
agreeable, that’s all.” 

At this Kate Bowerman spoke in her sharp, 
sarcastic way, “Mary will do as she pleases 
about it. I was never one for picking up 
strangers and making a great deal of them. 
Home folks are good enough for me.” 

Hester and Jane went their way. Helen was 
delighted to see her room-mate. 

“I’ve heard so much of you, Jane,” she said. 
“Hester was always quoting you. I confess 
I was almost afraid to meet you, I stand in 
awe of paragons, and after what Hester told 
me — ” 

“Hester’s statements cannot be depended 
upon when she talks about her friends,” laughed 
Jane. “As far as she is concerned, we have 
no faults. From what she told me of you, I 
expected to find wings nicely sprouted.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 297 


As the girls drew near the edge of town, Jane 
paused. “I must turn back. Mother warned 
me not to ‘tag’ this first day. You and Helen, 
so she says, might wish a few minutes alone 
to discuss school affairs.” 

Turn back she would, although both girls in- 
sisted that they would enjoy nothing as much 
as having her accompany them. 

“I’ll come to see you every day,” Jane said 
at parting. “You’ll have quite enough of me 
before your visit is over. I’m going to find 
out if you are really as nice as Hester declares 
you to be, or if you have deceived her woe- 
fully.” 

As Jane left them, Hester turned to her com- 
panion. “I wish you to do something for me, 
Helen. I wish you to keep a secret. ” 

“It depends. The very fact that it is a se- 
cret may make me wish to tell it. I’ll make an 
effort though, Hester dear. What is it?” 

“Do not mention Dr. Baker’s name to Aunt 
Debby.” 

“But he is coming Saturday afternoon. He 
came to the station to tell me that he would call 
at the Alden home Saturday evening. I’ll be 


298 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


compelled to mention Ms name. I must tell 
your Aunt Debby that be is coming. It would 
be discourteous not to.” 

“She’ll forgive you — ^later,” replied Hester. 
“Tell her that you expect a caller — ^but do not 
mention his name. And Helen, support me 
strongly when I suggest she wear her new white 
mull and put some pink sweet peas in her hair. 
She’s the prettiest thing I ever saw when she 
dresses so.” 

“Surely I’ll do what I can for the mull and 
sweet peas, but I can not understand why you 
object to Dr. Baker. He’s a very fine gentle- 
man.” 

‘ ‘ I know it. The finer he is, the better pleased 
I shall be.” Then Hester laughed and, look- 
ing directly into her companion’s eyes, asked, 
“Oh, Helen, can’t you see through a ladder?” 

“Not unless it is a very open one.” Sud- 
denly light came to her. She paused and laying 
her hand on Hester’s arm said, “You do not 
mean — ^It isn’t possible — ” 

Hester nodded her head. “I’m not sure. 
I’m just suspicious. I may not tell you why 
I think so, Helen. Just accept my suspicions.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 299 


“I’ll be glad to. How perfectly lovely if we 
would bring about tbeir meeting!” Then the 
two fell to planning bow to finish the work 
which Cupid had left incomplete twenty years 
before. 

The days were only too short. Debby Alden 
with the true spirit of hospitality tried not to 
entertain Helen as she was accustomed to live 
at home, but after the fashion of the Alden 
household. 

“Helen would enjoy boating and a mountain 
climb,” Debby suggested to Hester. 

“She’d love to go to the State Eeservation. 
I’ll ask Jane to go along.” 

“And Mary Bowerman,” called Debby. 

“She’s always fussing and quarreling so that 
it’s really no pleasure. Aunt Debby.” 

“It does not matter. She’s your next-door 
neighbor and you have always been friendly 
with her. You must ask her.” 

The climb to State Camp was arranged for 
Saturday morning. Friday evening Hester 
slipped across the lots to the Bowerman home. 
She was issuing the invitation on compulsion 
and was not weU-pleased about it. 


300 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


“We are going to State Camp to-morrow 
morning, Mary. We’ll start at six o’clock and 
take a lunch with us. Can you go along?” 

“I can if I wish to,” was the reply given with 
a toss of the head. 

“But do you wish to?” 

“I cannot say that I am particularly anxious. 
I don’t like a lot of sweetness boiled down, like 
you say Helen Loraine is. I may go. If I do, 
I’ll come over at six o’clock and be ready to 
start with you. I’ll think it over and decide 
whether I wish to go or not.” 

“Don’t bother thinking anything about it.” 
Hester had almost lost control of her temper. 
“If there’s the least doubt in your mind, do 
not go. We’ll try to be happy without you. 
If you are going to have one of your disagreea- 
ble spells I’d much rather you would stay at 
home. You spoil everything when you’re in 
a bad humor.” Hester held her head up and 
left the house as quickly as her feet could carry 
her. 

She said nothing to her Aunt Debby of what 
had occurred. To Debby ’s questions as to 
whether or not she had invited Mary, she re- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 301 


sponded with a single “Yes,” and began at 
once to talk of something else. 

Jane, Ralph, Helen, and Hester made up the 
party Saturday morning. It was not six o ’clock 
when they started. There was a continuous 
climb up almost perpendicular heights for two 
hours when the broad table-land was reached. 
Here they had lunch and after resting, began 
the descent. It was late in the afternoon when 
the Alden home came in sight. 

There were letters for Helen. After reading 
them, she addressed Debby, “Miss Alden, I ex- 
pect a friend to call this evening at eight 
o’clock, if you do not object. I should like you 
to meet him. I am sure you will like him.” 

“I am sure I will if he is a friend of yours. 
I shall be glad to have him call.” 

“Put on your new white dress,” cried Hes- 
ter, trying her best to speak as though the idea 
had that minute popped into her head. “I 
want Helen’s friend to see how beautiful you 
are.” 

“How vain you have made me,” responded 
Debby, laughing softly. “I am afraid your 
young men callers will not know what I am 


302 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


wearing. Their eyes will not be in my direc- 
tion. ’ ’ 

“But you will look your sweetest — for my 
sake.” Helen came from her place at the tea- 
table and bent over Debby’s chair. “I wish 
you would wear the pretty little gown you had 
ready for commencement and put a few sweet 
peas in your hair. You’ll look like a picture, 
Miss Debby.” 

“Such flattery would make me do anything. 
I am as wax in the hands of you two girls. 
You should blush at your attempts to turn a 
middle-aged woman into a giddy young girl.” 

“We’re not attempting that at all,” said 
Helen. “We wish only to have a fine frame 
for our beautiful picture.” 

The two girls were unusually enthusiastic. 
After the supper work had been cleared away 
they bore Debby off to make her toilet. Helen 
went into the garden to pick the flowers and 
returned shortly with a bunch of sweet peas of 
the most delicate pink. 

The doors between the bedrooms were open 
and conversation was carried on while the three 
were dressing. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 303 


Helen and Hester had put on white linen 
shirt-waist suits. Debhy looked at them in sur- 
prise. “I thought you intended putting on 
your best bib and tucker.” 

“I thought I’d save my fine dress for 
church,” said Hester. 

“There’s so many buttons on my organdie 
that it’s a task to get into it,” responded Helen. 
Then the girls looked at each other with twin- 
kling eyes. There was something in the air. 
Miss Debhy felt conscious of something — she 
knew not what. 

She looked like a beautiful picture in her soft 
white gown with sleeves to the elbow and the 
throat bare. Helen had stuck the flowers in 
her hair at just the right angle to cast a bit of 
color over Debby’s cheeks. 

The three sat in the living-room waiting. 
Debhy made an effort at conversation, but the 
minds of the girls were elsewhere. They 
glanced frequently at the clock. At a quarter 
of eight Hester arose. “I’ll run over and tele- 
phone to Jane Orr about dinner to-morrow.” 

“I’ll go with you. I need a walk.” Helen 
was already at the door. It was hardly possi- 


304 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


ble that she was suffering from lack of exercise, 
for the mountain climb had involved a dozen 
miles. 

“But your caller will be here, Helen.” 

“You entertain him until I return. Miss 
Debby. I’ll be back before he tires you.” 

“You did not tell me his name. I shall not 
know what to call him.” 

Helen hurriedly closed the door after her and 
presumably did not hear this last remark of 
Miss Debby ’s. 

Once out of sight, Hester clutched Helen’s 
arm. ‘ ‘ That was quite a brilliant remark about 
your returning before the caller would tire her.” 

“If they once were friends, they’ll forget all 
about us.” 

“He’ll come this way from town. I wonder 
if he’ll drive.” 

“No, he believes in walking. If Miss Debby 
is his old sweetheart, he’ll want to walk along 
here and bring back aU the old days.” 

“Let us sit here. He’ll not see us.” Hes- 
ter pushed aside the foliage which hung like a 
curtain before a footpath. The girls entered 
and found seats on an uprooted tree. They sat 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 305 


facing the road so that they might see who 
would pass. They had not many minutes to 
wait until footsteps were heard. 

“That is he,” whispered Helen, as a fine- 
looking, dignified gentleman appeared. They 
had good opportunity to study him, for he 
walked slowly and with his head down as though 
in deep thought. 

“The symptoms are favorable,” whispered 
Helen. “He usually walks briskly and with 
head erect.” 

“Let us walk down to Jane’s and ask her to 
come to dinner. I never did like to telephone.” 

“Nor do I — at present. We ’ll v^alk slowly, 
and pause to look at everything we see. I 
should not be surprised if it took us two hours 
to go there and back.” 

“That’s just the way I feel,” laughed Hes- 
ter. ‘ ‘ There are times when I like a quiet, slow 
walk, suggestive of a snail.” 

In spite of their loitering, little more than an 
hour had passed when they returned. They 
paused at the threshold of the living-room and 
then entered. 

Debby was sitting in an easy chair by the 


306 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


window. Doctor Baker was standing beside 
ber. Debby needed no sweet peas to bring color 
to ber cbeeks. Her eyes were like stars. Sbe 
arose to meet tbe girls. Putting ber arms about 
both, sbe drew them close to ber. “You dear 
little plotters!” sbe said. “And to tbink I 
never suspected you.” 


CHAPTEE XV 


T he following afternoon Miss Alden had 
callers. Mr. Woodin, of the firm of Mil- 
ler and Woodin, fire-brick manufacturers, ac- 
companied by his legal adviser, called to tell 
Debby that they were ready to carry out their 
part of the contract which had been a verbal 
one with Jim Bates, who had represented him- 
self as Mrs. Alden ’s agent. 

Debby had not grasped the import of Mr. 
Hintner’s words of the day before. She had 
been interested in comforting the girl. It did 
not occur to her that the business between Jim 
Bates and the brick company had any connection 
with her. She listened quietly while the situa- 
tion was explained to her. It was like a fairy- 
tale. She could not grasp it. There in the 
ravine and in the hills beyond lay a fortune; 
great veins of the finest fire-clay in the world 
covered over by a few inches of soil. 

“This has come upon me suddenly,” said 
307 


308 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Debby Alden, “I cannot decide. I must have 
time to tbink. I will talk with Mr. Hintner and 
be will communicate with you.” 

The conversation bad taken place as they sat 
under tbe old sweet apple-tree. Debby stood 
watching tbe carriage far down tbe road until 
it disappeared over the top of tbe bill. How 
much sorrow and joy bad come and gone for 
her by way of that road. Hester bad — 

As though her thoughts bad power to call 
her, Hester at that instant slipped beneath 
Debby ’s arm and drew it about her shoulder. 
It was Hester who bad given Mr. Hintner the 
clew. This thought came suddenly to Debby 
Alden. She had been repaid a hundredfold for 
the love she had shown to the motherless stran- 
ger child. 

“It was your paper that settled the matter, 
Hester,” she said. 

“I know. I’m very glad.” Her face grew 
mischievous. She said teazingly, “I’m very 
glad that I can say, ‘I told you so,’ ” 

Debby never kept good news from Hester. 
The young girl was niece, confidante, friend. 

“They have offered me one hundred thou- 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 309 


sand dollars just for tlie clay on the MU and 
ravine.” 

“One hundred thousand!” exclaimed Hester, 
awed by the thought of it. 

“I think we can manage to live on that,” said 
Debby dryly. “But we must be economical, 
very economical, Hester.” 

“But you forgot my money,” exclaimed Hes- 
ter. “You forgot that I have fifty-four dollars 
in the bank. My wealth did not come by 
chance.” She tried to look saucy. “Mine 
came through effort. Mine was the result of 
wage-earning.” 

The good news flew. Before a week had 
passed every one about town knew that Jim 
Baker and Debby Alden had made up. Kate 
Bowerman came over to have Debby herself 
verify the report. She added a few sarcastic 
touches. “Well, I do hope you’re marrying 
well. Deb,” she said. “You’ve waited long 
enough, goodness knows.” 

Debby laughed. She was too happy and had 
a life too full of good tMngs to be touched by 
Kate’s show of venom. 


310 HESTEK’S WAGE-EAENING 


Mary had accompanied her mother, and sat 
with Helen and Hester in the shade of the old 
sweet apple-tree. Helen had brought down 
some fancy-work and was teaching Hester. As 
they worked, their conversation naturally 
turned toward the exciting news of the discov- 
ery of clay on the hillside. 

Mary opened her eyes. She had not heard 
this before. “Do you mean to tell me that the 
hill and ravine are worth anything? Why, 
everybody says that potatoes couldn’t he raised 
there. The soil is only a few inches deep.” 

“It’s the clay under the thin layer which is 
valuable. The men have offered Aunt Debby 
one hundred thousand dollars for what is there. 
Auntie is — ” 

Just at that moment Debby came to the door. 
“Hester, could you go into town? I find I have 
no chocolate. You and Helen have both de- 
clared yourselves suffering for a devil’s food 
cake. So if you really wish — ” 

“We surely do. In a moment. Aunt Debby. ’ ’ 
Disposing of her needlework, Hester went into 
the kitchen to see what purchases her Aunt 
Debby wished her to make. It was a radiant. 



Debby Alden was day-dreaming as she beat her eggs. 

Page 311. 



HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 311 


beautiful Miss Alden who stood whipping eggs 
by the kitchen door. She was wholly different 
from the woman who sixteen years before had 
directed the stranger on the way to town. 

Before, she had been one who was merely ex- 
isting, accepting as gospel all the worn-out and 
harmful traditions of the countryside. She 
was physically, mentally, and spiritually a finer, 
bigger woman now than she had been then. 

She . had made sacrifices in order to educate 
Hester and the sacrifice had reacted and she 
herself had been developed and cultivated. 

Little pink-cheeked Jim Baker and she had 
loved each other all their lives. The cultivated 
Dr. Baker could not have found her, as she was 
fifteen years before, attractive. So in a round- 
about way, she attributed this new happiness 
to Hester, and the girl grew dearer than ever 
in her eyes. 

Debby Alden was day-dreaming as she beat 
her eggs. Her reverie was broken in upon by 
Hester’s “What shall I get in town for you. 
Aunt Debby?” 

The list was ready. Hester took it and went 
her way, pausing long enough under the tree to 


312 HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 


admonisli the girls to save a little fudge until 
she returned. 

Helen made a laughing rejoinder, but Mary 
sat silent. Her disagreeable mood was upon 
her. The envy within her heart had developed 
until she was miserably unhappy when fortune 
smiled upon another. Her eyes followed Hes- 
ter until she turned the bend of the road. 

“Some people are awfully lucky,” she said, 
turning to Helen. “To think of such a thing 
happening to Hester.” 

“I am very glad,” said Helen gently. “It 
always pleases me when good people have such 
fortune. Miss Debby will use her money wisely, 
I am sure ; and many people will be better be- 
cause she has it.” 

“Oh, I suppose so. I wasn’t thinking of 
that.” She spoke most imgraciously. “I was 
thinking of how lucky Hester was.” 

“Yes, I presume she is — ^in more ways than 
one.” Helen felt Mary’s unpleasant state of 
mind, but not knowing the cause, sought to 
present the subject in a different light. “I 
think she is very fortunate, just as any girl is 
who has a good home and is well-born and bred. 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 313 


Money is only an accessory — ^not an essential. 
I consider any girl fortunate who has an aunt 
like Hester’s Aunt Debby.” 

“Aunt! Fiddlesticks! I think, and every 
one else in the neighborhood thinks, that they 
do the ‘Aunt’ business to death. Aunt!” 

There was a world of sarcasm in the voice 
of the speaker. Her tone rather than her 
words caused her companion to raise her eyes 
questioningly and pause in her work. 

“Don’t you know? I supposed of course you 
did. But then, Hester would not tell you, 
and you know no one else who knows her story. 
Hester’s no relation at all. Her name never 
was Alden. She — ” 

Helen raised her hands to stop the torrent 
of gossip which was about to flow forth. But 
Mary had told much before she was conscious 
of Helen’s displeasure. 

“She’s only a waif — the woman who had her 
was killed at the crossing.” 

Helen dropped her work. She forgot that 
she was listening to the family affairs of her 
hostess. All her high sense of honor seemed 
to float off into space upon the instant. She 


314 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


leaned eagerly forward, “Yes, yes, liow long 
ago?” she cried. 

Mary was delighted at having found such an 
interested listener. 

“Fifteen or sixteen years ago. I was just 
a baby. People thought Hester was just a year 
old. The woman stopped here for dinner. She 
said she was on her way to the station. Miss 
Debby forgot about the Buffalo flyer and told 
her to cross the tracks. She — ” 

Her listener had fled and was running toward 
the house as fast as feet could carry her. Eush- 
ing breathless into the kitchen and seizing 
Debby by the hand she cried, “Ask Mrs. Bow- 
erman to excuse you and come with me into 
the living-room. I must talk with you!” 

There was no resisting her. Debby was 
pulled into the adjoining room and the door 
closed behind her before she was able to gather 
her scattered wits. Helen stood bolt upright 
like a young goddess. 

“Miss Debby, I must know. Isn’t Hester 
your niece?” 

“No; not really.” 

“Where did you get her — ^how long ago?” 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 315 


“Her mother was killed,” began Debby. 

“Are yon sure it was her mother?” 

It was the first time the idea of the woman’s 
not being Hester’s mother had ever been pre- 
sented to Debby ’s mind. 

“I’m not sure. I — I don’t really know. I 
just took it for granted. She might not have 
been.” 

“Do yon remember how she looked?” 

“Very clearly. She was rather stout, with 
big dark eyes and dark hair which was very 
curly and — ” Debby hesitated. She felt as 
though she must tell of the dark marks on the 
woman’s finger nails. 

“I was always a little afraid that she was 
not — ^was not — ” she paused. Then began 
nervously. ‘ ‘ She had dark marks on her nails. ’ ’ 

“Rosa — that was Rosa. Oh, dear Miss 
Debby, what an angel you have been to this 
family!” Seizing Miss Debby, Helen held her 
tight in affectionate embrace. 

“I cannot understand — ^I — ” began Miss 
Debby. 

“I’ll tell you later, only now send Mary Bow- 
erman to telegraph to Mrs. Vail. Say that 


316 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


Helen needs her badly and to come at once. 
Sign your name, ‘Miss Debby.’ Auntie will be 
here by to-morrow. Dear Aunt Harriet. She ’ll 
be so happy. Dear, dear, I cannot wait. 
Please send the telegram. Miss Debby. It is 
all right. I’ll explain then.” 

Debby wrote as directed, and hurrying into 
the yard directed Mary to hasten into town and 
see that the message was sent. 

Within an hour Mrs. Vail and Eobert were 
reading together, 

“Helen needs you badly. Come at once. 

, “Debby Alden.” 


“Sick,” said Eobert. 

“Dying,” said Mrs. Vail. “See about the 
trains and tickets. I’ll have Jenkins see to the 
traveling-bags.” 


CHAPTEE XVI 


M ISS DEBBY, after hearing Helen’s story, 
concluded that nothing had best be said 
to Hester, at least until Mrs. Vail came. They 
would plan that these two should meet without 
suspecting the possible ties between them. 

It was a very simple little story as Helen 
told it. Seventeen years before Mr. and Mrs. 
Vail had gone south for the winter, taking with 
them their little baby Dorothy. When spring 
came and they were about to return home, Mr. 
Vail was stricken with fever in its worst form. 
Mrs. Vail had also been exposed to the infec- 
tion. She could not leave her husband, and she 
feared to risk her baby’s life by keeping it 
south during the extreme hot weather. There 
was only one course. It seemed feasible 
enough. It was to send Eosa Williams, the 
quadroon nurse, north with the child. Mrs. 
Vail had seen her aboard a through train and 
317 


318 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


had provided for the comfort of the nurse and 
child. By some mischance, no one could know, 
how or why, Eosa had left the train and, being 
easily confused, had boarded one moving on 
another line. She had found her mistake that 
day and had stopped to rest at Debby Alden’s 
and was making her way home. 

Helen and Debby made an effort at self-con- 
trol, but they were not themselves. This was 
evident to Hester, who tried to understand. 

“Your cake is burned black, Aunt Debby,” 
she said, rushing into the kitchen and pulling 
a charred mass from the oven. 

“I declare, I had forgotten all about it,” was 
Debby ’s rejoinder. The midday lunch was a 
failure. Hester was hungry and could have 
eaten heartily had there been anything there 
to eat. Helen and Debby nibbled a few bites, 
tried to talk, and then lapsed into silence. 

“Let us work at our embroidery after dinner, 
Helen,” cried Hester. “I am so anxious to 
finish my shirt-waist. How proud I ’d be to have 
one I worked all myself.” 

“I could not keep a needle in my hand to- 
day. See how my fingers tremble,” said Helen, 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 319 


holding up her hand. Her fingers were actu- 
ally shaking. 

At last Hester gave up all attempt to enter- 
tain her guest. Helen heard nothing that was 
said to her and answered “yes” and “no” at 
random. 

“Aunt Dehhy, what is the matter with 
Helen?” Hester sought Miss Debby in the 
privacy of her own room. “She is not her- 
self. Have I offended her? What can I do to 
entertain her?” 

“Let her alone. She is concerned about fam- 
ily affairs. She expects Mrs. Vail and perhaps 
Robert to-morrow.” 

“I’m so glad. I never met Mrs. Vail, hut I 
know she is lovely. I know Robert. He’s the 
nicest boy. I never knew a hoy I liked so well. 
I should think that Helen would be overjoyed 
at their coming.” 

“She is — if matters turn out well. It is sim- 
ply a business trip. Mrs. Vail is not happy. 
Helen is concerned for her. Do not bother her 
to-day. Let matters slip along as they will.” 

The afternoon and evening were long to Hes- 
ter. Debby and Helen could not be dragged 


320 HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 


into conversation. Hester felt the unusual in 
the atmosphere and was so affected by it that 
she could not work. 

Helen went to the station to meet her aunt 
and cousia. Mrs. Vail exclaimed when she saw 
the girl, “Dear Helen, you have caused me no 
end of anxiety. I was quite sure that you were 
ill — dying.” 

“You should not borrow trouble. Aunt Har- 
riet,” she responded with a laugh to hide her 
own nervousness. “I am as well as can be — 
and never happier in my life. The telegram 
said I needed you. I certainly do, but about 
pleasant matters — ^weddings and trousseaux 
and all sorts of gay times.” 

She knew her reply had misled Mrs. Vail. 
“You do not mean, Helen, that you — ” 

“I mean nothing more, you dear little Aunt. 
I shall not tell you another thing until several 
days pass, but keep your eyes open and see if it 
was not well that I sent for you.” 

“I see plainly that I am to be a fifth wheel,” 
said Robert as he assisted his mother and cousin 
to the carriage. “I might as well take the next 


HESTER’S WAGE-EARNING 321 


train back home. I see that I have come on a 
wild goose chase.” 

“You horrid boy, to call your new relations 
wild geese. I’ll assure you, Robert Vail, that 
when you meet the people who are about to 
become members of your family, you’ll love 
them better than I do.” 

“Isn’t that like a girl. *Them.’ ‘They.’ 
You seek to evade by using a plural pronoun. 
Why not plumb out with it and say ‘him,’ ‘he’? 
You’re shy, too shy, Helen.” 

She laughed. “I know what I wish to say. 
I will not say ‘he’ or ‘him.’ Nothing shall 
make me say it.” 

“Oh, the stubbornness of women!” Robert 
shook his head. “I have done what I could to 
make you pliable, easy, and all sorts of nice 
things, but I see I have failed. From this time 
I wash my hands of you.” 

Miss Debby met her guests at the door. In 
her sweet and gracious manner she made them 
welcome. Hester had been sent to take lunch 
with Jane Orr. 

“Dinner will be ready as soon as your friends 


322 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


have refreshed themselves from travel stains,” 
said Debby. 

A few minutes later they sat at the dinner- 
table. The conversation turned toward the ex- 
periences of the previous spring. 

“I proved a runaway hostess,” said Mrs. 
Vail. “Urgent business called me, otherwise I 
should have met you and your niece then.” 

“It is very odd that Auntie and Hester never 
met,” said Helen. “It seems to have been de- 
cided by fate. Every time Aunt Harriet came 
to see me, Hester was somewhere else.” 

“You shall meet her to-day. I am sure you 
will love her. She has been all that the fondest 
aunt or — smother — could wish her to be. So 
honorable and truthful, cheerful, and unselfish, 
that — ” Debby paused. Her throat filled. 
She could say no more. She knew that she was 
giving Hester up. It meant that much. No 
one would need her now, was the thought which 
came to her; but she paused. Doctor Baker — 
rosy-cheeked Jim Baker needed her. He told 
her so. She could not have stood it otherwise. 

“He came back at just the right time,” she 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 323 


told herself. She felt that otherwise she could 
not have home the loss of Hester. 

They were leaving the table when Hester 
came in. Her hair was braided and caught up 
with scarlet ribbons. Debby’s eyes fell upon 
her in affectionate pride. Hester paused at the 
threshold just an instant. “Why, it’s Mrs. 
Vail,” she said, and advanced. Mrs. Vail had 
instinctively moved forward. Her eyes were 
bright. Without a word she put her arms 
around Hester and kissed her. With the girl’s 
hand in her own, she moved toward the living- 
room. 

For a moment no one spoke. Debby was the 
first to master herself. “I wish you would all 
come with me to the guest chamber. I have 
some quaint old articles I wish Mrs. Vail to see. 
I am sure she will be interested.” 

“I am quite sure I shall,” said Mrs. Vail. 
“I was quite overcome with the resemblance of 
your niece to rniue. Do you fancy there might 
be some family connection between the Loraines 
and Aldens, Miss Debby?” 

“No, I have the family history for genera- 


324 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


tions. I’m sure the Loraines and Aldens are 
not related.” 

“It is strange how there could be such a 
striking resemblance.” 

“Every one mentioned it when we were at 
school. Strangers thought we were sisters. ’ ’ 

“Twins, I suppose,” cried Eobert. 

He and Hester kept up a running fire of talk 
as they followed Miss Debby and Mrs. Vail to 
the guest chamber. 

“I do not know what the trouble is with Aunt 
Debby and Helen,” whispered Hester. “To- 
day and yesterday, they have acted — well, ‘pe- 
culiar’ is the only word.” 

“Helen is in love. They always act queer 
when they are so.” 

“That solves it. Aunt is in love, too,” 
laughed Hester. 

Debby drew forth a low rocker for Mrs. Vail. 
“I have had some little articles packed away 
for sixteen years. I felt that you would ap- 
preciate them — you like dainty rolled hems and 
fine handwork. I am afraid the nainsook has 
become yellow with age. Eobert, will you draw 
out the little old trunk in the closet?” 



“Did you ever see any daintier work?” — Page 325. 





HESTEE’S WAGE-EARNING 325 


“Most assuredly. This all savors of ro- 
mance. I’ll wager the trunk is packed with 
love-letters.” He was pulling forth the trunk 
as he talked. “I am glad I came down. The 
very atmosphere of this house smells of orange 
blossoms. Got auy faded flowers in this trunk, 
Miss Debbyf” 

“Nary a one, Robert. Put the trunk before 
your mother there. The girls have seen these 
treasures.” Debby opened the lid, and getting 
on her knees took out the pins which fastened 
the papers about the little clothes which Hester 
had worn the day Rosa Williams had been 
killed. 

“Look at this little petticoat and dress. Did 
you ever see any daintier work?” Debby laid 
the articles on Mrs. Vail’s lap. “I’ve had them 
packed away for sixteen years.” 

There was an awful silence. Robert looked 
from one to the other. He knew now that Miss 
Debby had called them here for a purpose. 

Mrs. Vail fingered the articles lovingly. 
“Did you make them? Whose were they? 
Once I worked a — ” she could not finish. After 
a moment she controlled herself. “I could 


326 HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 


readily believe they were the same. They are 
so alike.” 

“Who made them?” Debhy was yet on her 
knees, but was close enough to lay her hand 
on Mrs. Vail ’s. “ I do not know who made them 
— you, perhaps. Hester was wearing them 
when I found her sixteen years ago, by the rail- 
road, a few minutes after her colored nurse had 
been killed.” 

“Was it not my mother?” cried Hester. 
“You told me, Aunt Debby, that it was my 
mother.” 

“So I thought. I know now that it was not. 
Mrs. Vail is your mother, Hester.” 

Mrs. Vail could say nothing at all. She could 
not grasp the meaning. She looked from one to 
the other, and then at the baby clothes in her 
hands. 

Then like a flash it came to her — “My dear 
little daughter,” she said, turning toward Hes- 
ter and taking her close in her arms. The 
others were about to slip away when Mrs. Vail 
addressed Eobert, ‘ ‘ Telegraph your father that 
IVe found our little girl. He has been patient 
so long.” 


HESTEE’S WAGE-EAENING 327 


It ended better than a fairy-tale. They lived 
happy ever afterward. Hester made her home 
with her real mother; but Aunt Debby and Doc- 
tor Baker were not a square away. So they 
were all united and happy. Elizabeth Bates 
had remained with Debby until the completion 
of a thorough high school course. She had 
from the first shown her gratitude by an atfec- 
tion that did much to console her good friend 
for the absence of Hester. She proved to be 
possessed of so high a degree of efficiency and 
good sense that when her age allowed her to be- 
gin specific training for the calling of a nurse 
she did so with every assurance that by bring- 
ing comfort to others she would do much to 
atone to the world for the trouble caused by 
her parents. Mrs. Vail could not be grateful 
enough to Debby for the care and love she gave 
to the little child, but Miss Debby knew that 
Hester brought to her all the best things of life 
— new youth, efficiency, and love. 


THE END 



HESTER SERIES 

By JEAN K. BAIRD 

12mo Cloth Illustrated $1.25 each 


The Coming of Hester 

LJ ESTER comes as a mysterious waif to the 
^ * home of a lone woman, still young, but 
who has settled down into a narrow life, 
which expands as the child rapidly develops 
into mature girlhood. The principal part of 
the story, in fact, takes place when Hester 
has reached high school age. 

Such books as “The Coming of Hester’* are 
healthy, wholesome reading — the kind which will 
help girls tc^row into the right sort of women. — 
Cleveland Town Topics. 

It is awell.told story, pure and healthful in its 
influence and nature. — Religious Telescope^ 

O, 


Hester’s Counterpart 

H ester becomes a pupil at a seminary in 
the suburbs of a small city. Her room- 
mate is Helen Loraine, for whom the other 
girls are continually mistaking her. Misun- 
derstandings arise, and a reconciliation comes 
in a time of peril from flood. What transpires 
then adds the crowning interest to one of the 
season’s ablest and best stories for girls. 

Like its predecessor it is a clean, interesting sto^ 
of young girl life — the kind of a book all girls in 
their teens like to read. — Cincinnati Times Star, 
It is a fine sto^ with just an element of mystery 
to give spice to it, — Buffalo Express^ 

A fine story, well told, ^Religious Telescope^ 
Dayton, O. 




For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt 
of price by the publishers, 

LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON 



HELEN GRANT SERIES 

By AMANDA M. DOUGLAS 

Illustrated by Amy Brooks Cloth Price per volume $1.25 



Helen Grant’s Schooldays 
Helen Grant’s Friends 
Helen Grant at Aldred House 
Helen Grant in Colleg^e 
Helen Grant, Senior 
Helen Grant, Graduate 
Helen Grant, Teacher 
Helen Grant’s Decision 
Helen Grant’s Harvest Year 



GRANT and her friends represent the best type of college 


* girls, those of the highest aims and ideals, and she herself 
develops to admiration in each successive phase of her career. — 
Milwaukee Free Press, 

Helen Grant is a lovable and capable American girl, and the young 
people who follow her experiences as depicted by Miss Douglas are sure 
to be the better for it. — Herald and Presbyter, 

Miss Douglas has had long experience in writing books for girls. 
Into her stories she puts the influence of high ideals, remembering all the 
time that girls are not to be deprived of their good times, but that play 


and earnest endeavor contribute each a share to the making of womanly 


character. — Christian Register, 

In “ Helen Grant,’* Miss Douglas has 
created a splendid type of American girlhood, 
strong, energetic, intelligent, and winsome. 
Her progress under difficulties, and her unusual 
power to win and keep friends, have delighted 
her readers. — Chicago Advance* 


For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on 
receipt of price by the publishers 


LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., 
BOSTON 




JUL 8 1*11 




